Lewis hits 2 homers and Ryan strikes out 11 as Twins top Rockies to avert series sweep

Minnesota Twins third base coach Tommy Watkins, left, congratulates Royce Lewis, right, who circles the bases after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Ryan Rolison in the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Royce Lewis hit two home runs — his first career multihomer game — and Joe Ryan struck out 11 in seven innings as the Minnesota Twins beat the Colorado Rockies 7-1 on Sunday to prevent a three-game sweep.

Coming off his first All-Star appearance, Ryan (10-4) gave up one run and five hits with no walks. The right-hander worked a scoreless fourth inning with two strikeouts in the All-Star Game last Tuesday night at Atlanta.

Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran each threw a scoreless inning of relief for the Twins.

Matt Wallner hit a two-run homer off starter Germán Márquez (3-11) in the third and Harrison Bader added a solo shot for the Twins.

Willi Castro tripled leading off the ninth and scored on a throwing error by shortstop Orlando Arcia to make it 7-1.

Mickey Moniak homered in the third for Colorado. Jordan Beck and Ryan McMahon each had two hits.

Key moment

Castro drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a groundout by Carlos Correa and scored on a triple by Kody Clemens before Wallner's homer gave the Twins a 3-1 lead in the third.

Key stats

Minnesota racked up 12 hits — six for extra bases — and Twins pitchers had 13 strikeouts.

Up next

The Twins hadn't announced a starter yet for Monday against Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 1.00 ERA) and the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

The Rockies begin a three-game set against St. Louis.

___

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

Minnesota Twins' Christian Vázquez, right, congratulates Royce Lewis (23) after Lewis' solo home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Ryan Rolison in the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan works against the Colorado Rockies in the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Minnesota Twins' Matt Wallner follows the flight of his two-run home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Germán Márquez in the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Minnesota Twins' Harrison Bader follows the flight of his solo home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Ryan Rolison in the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)