Twins' Royce Lewis recalled from minors, leaves game after colliding with wall

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Royce Lewis is back in the majors with the Minnesota Twins and will be tasked with helping out at multiple positions.

He made his debut in center field on Sunday, but it ended early after he collided into the wall while making a catch. Nick Gordon took over in center field after he was removed from the game because of knee pain.

Lewis left the game against the Kansas City Royals without hitting a ball. Gordon was 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored as the Twins defeated the Royals.

Twins starting pitcher Sonny Gray left the game in the 7th because of a chest injury. Gray had retired 14 in a row before Andrew Benintendi's single in the seventh. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and an athletic trainer came to the mound as Gray appeared to be trying to stretch a muscle near his throwing shoulder, after Bobby Witt Jr. and Kansas City asked for a video review to try to get a hit batter call.

In his first season in Minnesota, Gray didn't walk a batter and struck out four. He allowed five runs in five starts in May after recovering from a hamstring strain.

Lewis was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul by the Twins before their game on Sunday.

Lewis played in 11 games for the Twins when Carlos Correa was injured and he hit.308 with four doubles, two homers and five runs. When Lewis was sent back to the minor leagues, the Twins had him work at other positions so he could contribute in the majors. He played in a number of positions in his past 10 games.

He was up for everything. Infield, outfield and bouncing around, and now we are seeing him back here and able to help us in some different ways, according to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

Lewis said before the game that learning new positions has been fun.

Lewis was the top pick by the Twins. He has not been on the field in two years. After a year without minor league competition in 2020 due to the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, Lewis tore theACL in his right knee while doing an agility drill in an off-season workout before reporting to spring training last year. He was out of action for the entire season due to surgery.

The report was contributed to by the Associated Press.