Welcome to October baseball, Royce Lewis.
The standout Minnesota Twins rookie went deep in the first two playoff at-bats of his young MLB career on Tuesday.
In the bottom of the first inning at Target Field, Lewis opened the scoring with a two-run shot to left field off Toronto Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman.
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Then, in the third, Lewis took Gausman to the opposite field for a solo homer, extending Minnesota's lead to 3-0 over Toronto in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.
Lewis became just the third player ever to homer in each of his first two career postseason plate appearances, according to ESPN Stats and Information, joining Evan Longoria (2008) and Gary Gaetti (1987).
MLB
Not only were those Lewis' first two at-bats in the postseason, but also his first since Sept. 19. The infielder had been sidelined due to a hamstring injury, and he made his return as Minnesota's designated hitter for Game 1.
In his third plate appearance, Lewis drew a walk against Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson. Lewis grounded out in his fourth and final plate appearance, but his three RBIs were enough for the Twins to snap an 18-game postseason losing streak with a 3-1 victory over Toronto.
Lewis, 24, was the No. 1 overall pick of Minnesota in the 2017 draft. He hit .309/.372/.528 with 15 homers and 52 RBIs across 58 regular-season games.
