CINCINNATI – As the Twins move closer to clinching their first American League Central Division title since 2020, there are health concerns with the left side of their infield.
After Carlos Correa exited Monday’s game because he aggravated an injury in his left foot, Royce Lewis left Tuesday following a pitch he fouled in the eighth inning. Lewis immediately grimaced and limped as he took a lap around home plate.
Lewis, who leads the majors in RBI over the past month, exited after a chat with a trainer and acting manager Jayce Tingler. The injury dimmed the Twins’ 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The Twins trimmed their magic number to earn a division title to four, and they could clinch as early as Thursday.
Lewis showed a bit of a limp after he attempted to beat out a double play in the sixth inning. He tweaked his ankle last Thursday in Chicago on a defensive play that took him into the outfield grass fielding a ground ball.
Kenta Maeda permitted one hit and one walk across five scoreless innings, and he wasn’t even the guy who did the best job at preventing runs.
Twins center fielder Willi Castro saved two runs with a sliding catch to end the fourth inning, and he robbed Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson of a two-run home run in the seventh inning. If changing a game defensively wasn’t enough for Castro, he bashed a two-run homer of his own.
Maeda didn’t allow a hit until Spencer Steer, the former Twins prospect traded in the Tyler Mahle deal last summer, pulled a double down the left-field line. Maeda walked the next batter, Jake Fraley, and then saw both runners advance into scoring position through a double steal.
With the tying run at second base in a two-run game, Stephenson lofted a fly ball to shallow center field. Castro had enough time to race under and save two runs with a sliding catch. Maeda raised both of his arms in the air when he saw Castro secure the grab, then clapped his hand into his glove. Other Twins fielders congratulated Castro before he reached the dugout.
Emilio Pagán had the same reaction as Maeda in the seventh inning when Castro leapt above the center-field wall to take away a homer from Stephenson with a six-run lead. Castro made the catch while holding his defensive positioning card in his right hand.
Maeda insists he doesn’t spend much time thinking about whether he will be in the Twins’ postseason rotation because it’s a decision out of his control. The way he’s pitching lately, it might be a difficult decision instead of just assigning him to the bullpen.
Maeda, who threw a season-high 105 pitches in his last start, struck out eight batters for the second consecutive start. He totaled five strikeouts with his slider and three with his splitter.
As well as Maeda pitched, it was a good day for him off the mound, too. He earned an additional $1.25 million through contract incentives in Tuesday’s start for starting 20 games this season and surpassing 100 innings pitched.
In a full-blown bullpen game that featured five Reds pitchers in the first four innings, the Twins totaled 11 hits and eight walks. After two walks in the second inning, Matt Wallner opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield on a two-strike slider.
In the fourth inning, Ryan Jeffers lined a changeup from lefthander Alex Young to left field. The ball left Jeffers’ bat so quickly, a 111.5-mph exit velocity, and on such a direct line that Jeffers didn’t realize the ball flew over the wall as he sprinted around first base.
It was, indeed, a homer, and that’s a good omen for the Twins. They have a 10-0 record in games Jeffers homers.
The Twins dinked and dunked their way to a couple of runs in the sixth inning against Ben Lively before Castro drilled a 90-mph fastball over the right-field wall for a two-run homer in the seventh.