Inside The Twins

Royce Lewis returns to grand slam form as Twins beat White Sox

Lewis hit his sixth career grand slam to lead the Twins past the White Sox in a battle between teams who came in with the AL's worst records.
Will Ragatz|
Aug 22, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) watches his grand slam against the Chicago White Sox during the fourth inning at Rate Field.
Aug 22, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) watches his grand slam against the Chicago White Sox during the fourth inning at Rate Field. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Twins

Maybe taking out some frustration on his batting helmet on Thursday is what Royce Lewis needed to get back on track? One day later, Lewis hit the sixth grand slam of his career — and his first since September 2023 — as part of a huge individual effort that helped lead the Twins over the White Sox, 9-7, in Friday night's series opener in Chicago.

With the Twins down 1-0 in the top of the fourth, a two-out single from Brooks Lee and a James Outman walk loaded the bases for Lewis, who has been slumping over the past couple weeks and has had a highly disappointing season overall. But in this moment, he looked like the Lewis of old. He took a first-pitch cutter from Aaron Civale on the outer corner and hit it 386 feet to left field, giving his team a three-run lead on one swing.

That wasn't the only big play from Lewis in this one. He put together one of the most impressive performances of his career, albeit without the stakes of some of his previous highlights (the White Sox and Twins entered this game with the two worst records in the American League).

After the White Sox tied the game at 4, Lewis singled in the sixth inning and stole a base for the second time this season, then scored the go-ahead run on a Trevor Larnach hit. The Twins would take an 8-4 lead in the seventh and appeared to be headed for a relatively stress-free win despite a rough showing from starter Zebby Matthews (8 hits, 3 walks, 4 earned runs over 4.2 innings).

But Chicago mounted a threat off of the Twins' bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. They loaded the bases off of Genesis Cabrera with a walk, a single, and another walk. Justin Topa came in, walked in a run, and then allowed a pair of run-scoring singles to make it 8-7.

That's when Lewis showed up on the defensive side of the ball. He ranged into foul ground to catch a pop fly from Colson Montgomery, then rifled a throw home to nail Miguel Vargas, who boldly tried to tag and score on the play.

To cap off a brilliant evening on the south side of Chicago, Lewis singled again in the top of the ninth, which moved Lee into scoring position and set up an RBI knock from Byron Buxton for an insurance run. Topa settled down in the bottom of the ninth and finished off the victory with his third save of the season.

Lewis (3 for 5), Buxton, Luke Keaschall, and Edouard Julien had multi-hit games in the win.

Next up: Twins at White Sox at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday. Mick Abel, acquired from the Phillies in the Jhoan Duran trade, will be making his Twins debut on the mound.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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