Royce Lewis hits go-ahead 3-run homer in 8th, lifting the Twins past the Blue Jays 4-3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning and the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Sunday.

Bailey Ober started and pitched six solid innings, and Jhoan Duran earned his 20th save for Minnesota, which is tied with Kansas City, 3 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Ernie Clement homered for Toronto, which lost for the fourth time in six games.

Trailing 3-1 heading into the eighth inning, Ryan Jeffers and Austin Martin singled off Blue Jays closer Chad Green (4-4) before Lewis punctuated an eight-pitch at-bat by sending a 2-2 slider 361 feet, just over the wall and into the flower bed that separates the first row of seats from the wall in left field for his first home run since Aug. 12.

“I faced him actually on a rehab stint,” Lewis said. “… Those at-bats are like big because I know, ‘Hey maybe I’ll face him one day.’ And today ended up being a big at-bat. It was good to have that memory of his pitches and what they kind of look like, the shapes, and do my best to put a good swing on it.”

Green, on the injured list from April 17 to May 27 with a major strain of a muscle in the upper arm near the shoulder, had been a perfect 16 for 16 in save opportunities this season.

“They make a bunch of changes, so we talked about having him face the middle of the order. That’s the guy you want against those hitters,” manager John Schneider said.

Tied at 1, Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the eighth off Griffin Jax (4-4), who then hit Leo Jiménez with his first pitch, scoring Nathan Lukes. A ground out by Joey Loperfido scored another run, giving the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead.

Lewis started at third base, but was moved to second base in the sixth inning. It was his first time playing that position in the majors.

“He made all the plays just the way that he’s made them in all the early work that he’s been out there doing and sometimes when you’re doing something new it wakes you up, it keeps you on your toes, it gets you going,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I don’t know if that had anything to do with him going out there and having a great at-bat late in the game.”

Ober gave up a homer to Clement in the first inning, but did not allow another hit through six innings, striking out eight. Ober had allowed a career-high nine runs in two innings on Monday against Atlanta.

Carlos Santana tied the game with an RBI groundout in the seventh, one batter after a throwing error by third baseman Luis De Los Santos on a potential inning-ending double play ball put runners on the corners. It ended Minnesota’s scoreless streak at 18 innings.

OUCH AND WOW!

Jiménez, Toronto’s second baseman, ran full bore into the wall down the first-base line chasing a fourth-inning foul pop by Max Kepler. Jiménez caught the ball a split-second before falling head over heels into the first row. He was tended to by trainers and stayed in the game.

ROSTER UPDATES

With teams allowed to expand rosters to 28 players Sunday, Toronto recalled LHP Brandon Eisert and De Los Santos from Triple-A Buffalo. Minnesota recalled RHP Diego Castillo and 2B/OF Michael Helman from Triple-A St. Paul. Helman will be making his major league debut.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: INF Brooks Lee was reinstated from the injured list. He had been out since July 31 with right bicep tendinitis. … OF Manny Margot was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: Home Tuesday for the first of two games against Philadelphia. RHP Chris Bassitt (9-13, 4.27 ERA) scheduled to face Phillies RHP Tyler Phillips (4-1, 5.50).

Twins: RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-3, 3.85) gets the ball Monday against Tampa Bay’s RHP Zack Littell (5-8, 3.89), when the teams open a four-game series at Tropicana Field.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Mike Cook, The Associated Press