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Pablo López throws gem in Twins’ Opening Day win, but team sees Royce Lewis, Max Kepler leave early with injuries

Betsy Helfand, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Byron Buxton returned to center field for the first time since 2022, starter Pablo López turned in a gem and Twins used a pair of insurance runs to pull away late to win on Opening Day.

But the excitement and enthusiasm of the Twins’ 4-1 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was dampened by the sights of third baseman Royce Lewis limping as he reached third base early in the game and Max Kepler grimacing in pain after fouling a ball off his leg.

Both the youngster and the veteran were forced to leave early in a painful win for the Twins (1-0).

Lewis, who has looked every bit the star in the making during the limited time he has been on the field over the past couple of seasons, kicked off the Twins’ season with a solo home run in the first inning. But the early part of his career has also been marred by injuries and the Twins saw that come into play a couple innings later.

After singling in his second at-bat, the third baseman said he envisioned Correa hitting a ball in the gap and him scoring on the play. When Correa actually did line a double to left, Lewis took off. Manuel Margot scored the go-ahead run and Lewis, the trail runner behind him, had his mind set on home as well but before he got to third, he started feeling his quad cramp.

He left the game alongside athletic trainer Nick Paparesta and the Twins sent him for magnetic resonance imaging. They are awaiting the results to determine the severity of the injury, which will likely require a trip to the injured list.

Kepler appears to have been luckier.

After fouling a pitch off his right knee, he initially stayed in the game, but he did not return to right field to play defense in the bottom of the eighth inning. Manager Rocco Baldelli said an X-ray was negative and the Twins will see how he is moving around on Saturday, when they play next.

Their injuries somewhat overshadowed a strong start from López, who talked of setting the tone for the season during his Opening Day start and did exactly as he set out to do on Thursday. The only mark against López was a leadoff home run to Maikel Garcia, which tied the game at the time. He followed by throwing seven scoreless innings in which he struck out seven.

“I was very anxious. There were a lot of emotions in that first at-bat. You always want to get the first one. You always want it to go smooth. It didn’t,” López said. “ … You shake it off. You let it go. … It’s about not letting go of my plan and trying to attack the zone. If you attack the zone, more times than not, you’re going to have a good chance at a good result.”

After López retired the first batter of the seventh inning, Baldelli ambled out to speak with him before opting to leave him in the game. The Twins’ ace rewarded his manager’s faith in him by getting the next two batters out.

The plan, Baldelli said, was not to let López go seven innings — he hadn’t done that all spring — but López had been so efficient that he changed the manager’s mind.

“It was an easy argument,” López said. “Easier than I thought it would be. Easier than in the past. I’m glad that he went that easy.”

The Twins then turned the game over to reliever Brock Stewart, who got through a scoreless eighth inning, before pulling away late with one run on a wild pitch and another on Correa’s third hit of the day, this one an infield single that allowed Buxton to race home.

Reliever Griffin Jax, in Jhoan Duran’s absence, then came in and slammed the door on the Twins’ first win of the season.

“(It’s) not the way you want to start the season out on the injury side of things, but certainly the way you want to watch your team go out there and fight and win on Opening Day against a good pitcher,” Baldelli said.

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