With Royce Lewis back on track, Twins chase sweep of Rangers

Royce Lewis is feeling great at the plate.

It has been a long time coming.

The Minnesota infielder will try to maintain his hot streak when the Twins play the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas. The Twins have won the first two games of the three-game series and three in a row overall.

Lewis could be a factor in the Twins' efforts to finish off the sweep.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick has been back in the big leagues for 10 games, and he has rediscovered his comfort level on offense. He is hitting .324 (12-for-37) with three home runs and seven RBIs since he returned from Triple-A Saint Paul.

A month ago, nobody knew what Lewis' future with the Twins might be. The team demoted him to the minors after a brutal start to the season, and it seemed like he could have been traded to another organization for a fresh start.

Instead, Lewis hit well in Triple-A and forced his way back into the majors. He added a toe tap and a leg kick to his routine in the batter's box, and he said the mechanical adjustments helped him get past one of the worst slumps of his career.

"I feel like my confidence was always there," Lewis said. "I feel like people say, ‘It was a confidence thing, and you've got to mentally reset.' I'm like, ‘Dude, I was mentally fine.' I just wanted to know what was the thing to get me back to actually doing it in a game."

Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter (3-6, 4.97 ERA) will try to help his team salvage a victory in the series. Leiter is looking to rebound from back-to-back losses, including a bumpy outing Friday in which he gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits in five innings against the Boston Red Sox.

Leiter has faced the Twins once in his career. He took a loss on June 11, 2025, after giving up four runs on five hits in four-plus innings. He walked four and struck out three.

Minnesota will counter with right-hander Joe Ryan (4-3, 3.17 ERA). He is coming off a no-decision in his outing on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals, who scored three runs on six hits in six innings against him. Ryan walked none and fanned eight.

In three career starts against Texas, Ryan is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He walked five batters and struck out 20 in 17 1/3 innings during those outings.

After playing games against each other Monday and Tuesday, the Twins and Rangers had the day off Wednesday because of a World Cup match at AT&T Stadium, which is part of the same sports and entertainment complex as the Rangers' ballpark.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker is hopeful that the break can help his players move past a rocky performance Tuesday. Texas lost 12-2 while allowing 17 hits to the Twins, and Brandon Nimmo made a pair of errors in the outfield.

"I've said it before: Ugly losses like this, when you don't do well in all facets of the game, it starts with me," Schumaker said. "We made some fundamental mistakes throughout the game that we have to clean up."

--Field Level Media