Twins takeaways: Brewers end team’s win streak at 13, but Royce Lewis is heating up

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MILWAUKEE — The streak may be over, but Royce Lewis appears to be locked in at the plate, or very close to it.

Had it not been for the heroics of Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Jackson Chourio in the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon, the Twins might still be playing.

Chourio robbed Lewis of his second home run of the day, a drive that would have been a tying homer, and the Brewers rode it to a 5-2 win over the Twins, who saw their major-league-best 13-game winning streak come to an end.

Lewis earlier blasted a solo homer, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a poor start by Zebby Matthews, who allowed four earned runs in three innings, including one in the second inning that ended a Twins-record 34-inning scoreless streak.

“It’s a phenomenal play,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Chourio’s catch. “Changes everything going on in the game. … There’s a lot of work to be done and I told them we’re just kind of scratching the surface as far as what we’re capable of this year. That was just a great run, one of the best two-week spans of baseball I’ve ever been a part of in my life. We want to get it going again (Monday) and start a new one.”

Lewis looks as if he’s ready to start a new reign of terror against opposing pitchers.

Throughout the early part of his return after missing 34 games, the third baseman noted he’d been happy with his approach at the plate, but was still working on timing.

Slowly but surely, Lewis is finding his groove, one which started with a two-hit effort in a May 11 win against the San Francisco Giants after going hitless in his first 15 at-bats of the season. Lewis doubled in Saturday night’s victory over the Brewers and reached base three times.

Batting for the second time Sunday, he blasted a 417-foot homer off Freddy Peralta, the ball exiting his bat at 109.5 mph.

Four innings later, Lewis nearly got another one, though he didn’t get all of it. Facing reliever Nick Mears with a man on second, Lewis belted a low liner toward left-center. Once he reached the wall, Chourio leapt and pulled the drive back over the fence to keep Milwaukee in front 4-2.

“If he doesn’t catch that, I think we win the game, for sure,” Lewis said. “It changes the momentum. … I feel great. I feel like I just had my spring training. Those first 40 at-bats, I was just trying to get back, and I still have a long way to go. There is a lot of season, thank goodness for that.”

JACKSON CHOURIO BRINGS IT BACK 🤯 pic.twitter.com/g1VuHei4wt

— MLB (@MLB) May 18, 2025

Over his last seven games, Lewis is hitting .308/.357/.462.

Here are more takeaways after a strong weekend in Milwaukee in which the Twins started the “Molitor Cup” with wins in two of three games.

Zebby Matthews allowed four runs in three innings with five strikeouts in his season debut for the Twins. (Michael McLoone / Imagn Images)

• Matthews’ outing featured a bit of everything, including a 43-pitch third inning in which he walked three batters and yielded three runs. Making his first big-league start of the season, Matthews struck out the side in the first inning, ending it by painting a 98 mph fastball on the outside corner to William Contreras.

He allowed a run in the second inning but wiggled out of more trouble with dominant stuff. Then in the third, Matthews lost the zone. After striking out the first two batters he faced, Matthews loaded the bases on three straight walks.

Milwaukee pounced on the opportunity with three runs on two singles.

“The first inning went pretty well,” Matthews said. “But then to not finish the start, definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth. … I’ve just got to be better on my part there.”

• The first sign that Danny Coulombe was hurt arrived Friday night when Baldelli opted for Griffin Jax instead of the lefty during an inning in which two left-handed hitters were due. On Sunday, the Twins acknowledged that Coulombe, who has 19 strikeouts over 16 2/3 scoreless innings, is recovering more slowly than they’d prefer from forearm soreness.

The Twins placed Coulombe on the 15-day injured list with a left forearm extensor strain. Coulombe and Baldelli downplayed the move, which is retroactive to Thursday. Coulombe said the soreness isn’t near his elbow and has bugged him most of the season.

“It’s been something I’ve been kind of just dealing with all year,” Coulombe said. “When you’re 35, you’re not going to feel good all the time. But it’s just something that’s gotten progressively a little worse. We feel good about it’s the time to get it right. I feel pretty optimistic it’s going to be a short absence.”

Said Baldelli: “I’m not going to say it’s the minimum (length of time out), but I’m optimistic that it won’t be too long.”

• Before the grounds crew could prepare the infield Sunday, Lee asked for several minutes to take groundballs at shortstop. With Carlos Correa out of the lineup, Lee is expected to get the bulk of work at shortstop.

He’s played the position his entire career, so Lee understands the importance of daily preparation and readying himself for the different angles and throws required compared with second and third base.

Valued at 1 Defensive Runs Saved by FanGraphs entering Sunday, Lee feels comfortable, though he’d prefer to play at a lighter weight to better handle the rigors of the job.

“You have to do it repetitively to stay on top of it,” Lee said. “Just working the different angles of where you need to start the ball. … It’s different. If I lost five or 10 pounds, I’d be in better shape to play the position. I feel good, I just want to excel at it.”

• Kody Clemens’ increased bat speed isn’t a function of different offseason work, nor anything new imparted by the Twins’ hitting coaches.

Clemens, 29, thinks a 3 mph increase on competitive swings from a season ago is a combination of regular play, good mechanics and perhaps reaching his physical prime. According to Baseball Savant, Clemens, who doubled and flew out to the wall in Sunday’s loss, has a 73.4 mph average bat speed, up from 70.5 mph a year ago and better than the league average (71.6 mph).

“I try to keep it as simple as possible,” Clemens said. “Almost dumbing it down to: see ball, hit ball. Someone mentioned that to me and I didn’t even know. … Maybe I’m in my prime. I’ve never really tried to increase bat speed. It’s all about timing and rhythm and my swing.”

Clemens has appeared in 15 of 19 games (and started 11) since the Twins acquired him for cash from the Philadelphia Phillies on April 26. In his career, Clemens has only one other longer, consistent run of games, playing in 35 for Philadelphia from mid-May 2023 into July while Bryce Harper was out with an injury.

Son of legendary pitcher Roger “The Rocket” Clemens, Kody is taking advantage of his chances with the Twins, hitting .297/.381/.622 in 42 plate appearances.

• While Carson McCusker couldn’t catch a flight to Milwaukee, at least his family did. The latest Twins minor leaguer to deal with travel issues from Des Moines, Iowa, McCusker made the 5 1/2-hour drive to Milwaukee on Saturday evening to join the Twins for their series finale.

Whereas teammate Ryan Fitzgerald’s Thursday flight was delayed, which prompted him to drive, there were no available flights for McCusker to catch Saturday. Flying from out west, McCusker’s family was able to catch a red-eye flight Saturday to be in attendance for the 26-year-old’s first day in the big leagues.

“Pure excitement,” McCusker said. “Just ready to go. … It’s honestly kind of a lot to take in. It’s definitely a blessing. It’s kind of crazy, looking back where I was to where I am now, that I was able to get here and do it.”

McCusker pinch hit in the eighth inning Sunday, grounding out the pitcher in major-league debut.

• The Twins celebrated Correa reaching 10 years of big-league service time before Sunday’s game.

“It’s something every player takes an immense amount of pride in,” Baldelli said. “It’s something that elicits emotion, gets guys fired up and it’s one of those few times where a guy gets to be the center of attention not for just hitting a big homer or saving the game. But it’s a lifetime achievement you get to celebrate with your teammates, and that’s a special thing.”

(Top photo of Royce Lewis: Michael McLoone / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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