AL WILD CARD SERIES: BLUE JAYS VS TWINS

October 3, 2023

Royce Lewis

Pablo Lopez

Target Field

Minnesota Twins

Postgame Press Conference

Twins - 3, Blue Jays - 1

Q. Royce, you seemed kind of, maybe I'll be on the roster, yesterday, maybe I won't. How sure were you that you were going to play today? And how did it feel to play today?

ROYCE LEWIS: Yeah, this morning, when I saw that I was making the roster from Rocco, I felt better. Hopefully it was connected to my mental state of mind. I was just excited for the day and we could keep that going.

But it was a blessing to play today. That atmosphere was electric.

Q. Pablo, you prepared so intensely for these start. You wore the Santana jersey. You kind of understood what this game meant to the fans. What did it mean to go out and deliver in a Game 1 like this for them?

PABLO LOPEZ: It's extremely important. Really Game 1 of any series is the most important one. I've said it before. Set the tone, and that's something that's as true as it gets. You want to set the tone and set the stage and really let the competition know that we have a plan and we're going to try to do everything to execute it.

And the Santana jersey thing, some people believe in fate, some people believe that the things we do today drive what we do tomorrow. But sometimes things line up too perfectly to pass up on those opportunities.

I was just happy that I was able to, for the most part, secure my plan, do my part, and do the best I could to, like, put the team in the best position to win.

I had a bunch of help from Royce here sitting next to me. The defense was on point all day long. They showed up like how we expected to show up.

The fans have been believing in us for so long. It was just a matter of believing in ourselves and coming to the game, playing loose, understanding that we didn't need to change who we were or our approach, and just go out and have fun. And it was electric, and we embraced it. And we were just having fun out there.

Q. Royce, you showed so much emotion during the starting lineup. You were ready to go. You had to DH. You didn't have the time to get on the field and decompress and get control of your emotions. How were you able to handle being just the DH and not getting out on the field?

ROYCE LEWIS: That's a great question. I think I just took a lot of advice from Byron Buxton, who has done it a lot this year about staying warm, riding the bike in between innings, maybe standing up while the team is on defense, similar to your approach like you would playing defense.

Obviously you're not fielding the ball but at least you're on your feet, you're keeping the blood flow going.

And honestly this atmosphere, truly, like when I tell you it was electric, it brought that electricity into my body. I felt different. My heart was beating -- it was the most nervous game, exciting game I've ever played in my life. It was so much fun.

Q. Pablo, you spoke yesterday about how, with regards to that 18-game losing streak, that you guys were going to kind of embrace it, maybe sort of draw some motivation from it. How do you think maybe that approach might have helped you guys ultimately overcome that?

PABLO LOPEZ: I think this group of guys, like spending two months in Spring Training, six months of the regular season, 182 days, if you counted 20 days off we get during the season, I was able to really gauge the atmosphere, the mentality that we had going into this Game 1.

Like this game meant a lot to us for many, many reasons, and we just wanted to put an end to something that was very important to our beloved fans. Like, the fans have been so great to us. They support us. They root for us no matter the situation.

It just felt right giving this to them. The way I see it now, we have a new streak going. We're 1-0, and that's the one we want to focus on now.

Q. Pablo, I guess Royce, too, from your vantage point in the fourth inning that play that went under Polanco's glove and Correa able to make that play to throw out Bichette at home, can you give us from your vantage point what you saw on that play? And did you think that play was even going to be able to made?

PABLO LOPEZ: No. That was unbelievable. I couldn't believe it when it happened. I saw Polanco charging in and he's trying to make a play. Kirkmaier is a fast runner, he's always one of the fastest runners on the team he's playing for.

So I saw Polanco coming in full speed. He had one shot. He took the glove out, tried to get rid of it quick, didn't catch it.

I saw Bichette stepping on third and I thought I saw the third base coach putting the stop sign in -- it's crazy how fast we think of these things. I think if he keeps going he might have a shot.

But then somehow, some way Carlos came from nowhere and he made the big play in the big moment. We all know who Carlos Correa is when the stage is big, when the stage is like this big. He shows up for those moments. And he made an unbelievable play.

And I'm not going to sell Ryan Jeffers short either. He stayed engaged every single second of the play and he made a tag.

That was a very, very big moment of that game. Could have been bases loaded if the runner doesn't go, but ended up being an inning-ending play. Unbelievable play.

Q. Royce, you mentioned the emotion, that you had a lot of it pregame. But even at your first at-bat it looked like you took a look around, like a 360. What were you trying to experience in that moment?

ROYCE LEWIS: Just take it all in, you never know when you're going to be in this situation. We had a heck of a season, and I just wanted to take it all in. These fans showed up for us.

I got that advice from Joe Mauer through a text today, just telling me just take it in. He said that's one thing he would do is take it in and don't regret the moment that you're in.

And so that's what I did. All those fans, they really, they stepped up for us. Man, it was special.

Q. Royce, just wondering what your readiness to play third base would be if that were to present itself this series?

ROYCE LEWIS: I'm just taking it day-by-day. I'm working as hard as I can, recovering as much as possible to be ready any way for my team.

And I think that's more of a Rocco question or a staff question, because this team, we have guys that can play all over and make plays like you saw tonight. So that defense is truly special.

Q. Royce, I remember you kind of shake your head, you couldn't -- in disbelief at the grand slams. You've never hit two home runs at a game at this level before. Do you ever surprise yourself by what you manage to achieve?

ROYCE LEWIS: Yeah, that's a God thing. I'm just blessed to be a part of it. I mean, it felt like I was blacked out in the whole game, but especially in those moments when I was on the field. My heart was racing.

It was just human nature of it. Like, when you have, I don't know, 40, 50,000 people cheering. It was special. I was just going off that energy and playing the game that I have loved this whole life and had fun doing it.

PABLO LOPEZ: I'm also amazed by the things Royce does, by the way.

Q. Pablo, did you have the Johan jersey at home? Like you owned it?

PABLO LOPEZ: [Nodding].

Q. Obviously the streak is the big story ending, but how does it feel for all you've talked about idolizing Johan growing up to get the first win since he had one against the Yankees basically 19 years ago?

PABLO LOPEZ: I guess in a way I don't believe in, because that happened so long ago when I was really starting to understand baseball and admiring Johan Santana, the player he was, the role model on and off the field he still is.

So I guess moments like that kind of feels like they write themselves up. And it was an unfortunate streak going. And I'm sorry so many people had to go through it, suffer through it.

But I feel just coming into today, the energy, like, from every single person in the clubhouse and out in the stadium just felt like unmatched, like anything I've ever felt before.

So I think it was just about really embracing them, like, without pressure there's no expectation. So pressure is a privilege. And then just understanding that mentality, using it in our favor.

You always want to feel some pressure because that means that there's an opportunity to do something amazing. I don't know if as a team we all felt it. I felt it. But I acknowledge it. I accepted it. And then I just put it on my shoulder and tried to go with it.