Lewis' hot streak has arrived at right time for the Twins

MILWAUKEE -- Royce Lewis has spent the past two weeks doing something no hitter in baseball has done better: hit the ball hard.

And for a Twins team trying to hang around the postseason picture, his timing couldn’t be much better.

Lewis entered Sunday’s rubber match against the Brewers riding a career-high 13-game hitting streak, the longest active streak in the Majors and the longest by a Twins player since Brooks Lee hit safely in 19 straight games in 2025.

During the streak, Lewis is batting .380 (19-for-50) with five doubles, a triple, three homers and 11 RBIs. He’s slugging .700 with a 1.104 OPS, and his average exit velocity of 96.0 mph since July 25 leads all Major League hitters with at least 30 plate appearances.

Manager Derek Shelton has noticed one thing in particular.

“The aggressiveness of his swings,” Shelton said. “He’s taken really confident, aggressive swings. When you’re feeling good at the plate, those are the swings you take, and that’s what we’re seeing.”

Those swings have been on display throughout Minnesota’s weekend in Milwaukee.

Lewis had two hits and scored twice in Friday’s 8-6 comeback victory before extending his streak Saturday with a two-out, two-run double in the second inning of a 4-3 loss. He has now reached safely via a hit or walk in 19 consecutive games and owns a 1.304 OPS in August.

“He continues to have really good swings, and he’s been a catapult for our offense recently,” Shelton said Saturday night.

On Sunday, the Twins moved Lewis up a spot to second in the order with Ryan Jeffers out of the lineup, giving one of their hottest hitters a chance at another plate appearance against Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski.

“I wouldn’t overthink the fact that he goes from three to two,” Shelton said. “It’s just the situation -- Jeffers isn’t in there, and he’s [Lewis] having good at-bats.”

Those at-bats could be particularly important against Misiorowski, whose overpowering arsenal presents a considerable challenge in Sunday’s series finale.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” Shelton said. “It’s a good challenge. But he has to go out and execute pitches, and we have to execute our game plan.”

The Twins entered Sunday at 58-60, 1 1/2 games behind the Rangers for the final American League Wild Card spot and three games behind the White Sox in the AL Central.

If they’re going to close either gap, they’ll need their offense to keep producing. And right now, few hitters in baseball are producing more than Lewis.