After Trevor Larnach extended the attack with a groundball single to center, Lewis engaged in an eight-pitch at-bat battle with Singer. Lewis fouled off four straight pitches and smashed one of his bats when he deflected a slider before hammering an elevated sinker into the front of the second deck in left field.

Lewis took three steps backwards from the batter’s box to look at his work and threw his bat to launch his home run. When he returned to the dugout, he nearly ran through the line of high-fives in excitement.

Six consecutive batters reached base with two outs and all scored. Singer slammed his glove and cap on the bench in the dugout in frustration at the end of the inning.

The Twins extended their lead in the seventh inning by taking advantage of an error by Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. With two runners on base and no outs, Matt Wallner hit a splitter into right field on the first pitch for an RBI single. Manuel Margot, replacing the injured Buxton, scored another run on the next pitch with a sacrifice fly to center.

Kansas City had an early 2-0 lead. Witt, the best hitter in the major leagues since the All-Star break, hit a hanging slider over the left outfield wall for a solo home run in the first inning. Witt has reached base 50 times in his last 99 at-bats.

López’s second inning began with a catcher’s interference call on a 1-2 pitch. With two outs, he allowed two consecutive singles to the two worst hitters in the Royals’ lineup, including an RBI hit to Kyle Isbel.