Obstruction call costs Royce Lewis, Twins in a 3-2 loss to Brewers

MINNEAPOLIS - Trying to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning Friday at Target Field, the Twins thought they made a game-changing play defensively.

With runners on second and third and no outs, Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras hit a grounder to shortstop Brooks Lee with the infield drawn in. Lee fired a sidearm throw to third, and lead baserunner Jackson Chourio was initially called out by third-base umpire Jordan Baker.

The celebration was short-lived.

Baker huddled with the umpiring crew and changed the call to obstruction on Twins third baseman Royce Lewis, who had his foot in front of the bag. Chourio was awarded the plate because of the obstruction, and manager Derek Shelton was ejected when he protested the decision.

Milwaukee's next batter, Jake Bauers, hit a go-ahead RBI double against reliever Andrew Morris, and the Twins were handed a controversial 3-2 loss in their series opener before an announced crowd of 24,309.

Lewis quickly ran to the base after Lee fielded the ball, and his right foot was in front of the base. On replay, it appeared Lewis tagged Chourio before Chourio spiked his foot, but obstruction is a nonreviewable call.

It was a tough turn of events for Lewis, who has slumped all month, but he gave the Twins a one-run lead with an RBI single in the seventh inning. After Luke Keaschall reached on a ground ball that bounced past Bauers at first base, Kody Clemens followed with a single to left field to put two runners on base with one out.

That brought up Lewis, who had two hits in his previous 32 at-bats. Lewis lined a change-up from Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby into left field, scoring Keaschall from second.

The Twins, who have lost four games when leading after seven innings, had Morris face the top of the Brewers lineup in the eighth inning. Chourio and Brice Turang hit consecutive singles before the controversial obstruction play that led to Shelton's third ejection of the season.

After Bauers lined his RBI double to right field, Morris and lefty Anthony Banda stranded two runners in scoring position.

Twins starter Joe Ryan, making his first home start since an injury scare when he exited after nine pitches because of right elbow soreness, yielded four hits and one run in six innings. Ryan struck out seven, matching his season high, against one of the toughest teams to strike out.

Chourio drilled Ryan's first pitch to the center-field wall for a leadoff double. Chourio advanced to third on a groundout, and he scored when Contreras hit a ground ball that deflected off Lee's glove with the infield drawn in.

Ryan, after giving up a two-out single in the first inning, retired 11 of his next 12 batters. He pitched around a leadoff single in the fourth inning, aided by a sliding stop-and-throw from Lee in the shortstop hole.

He overpowered hitters with his fastball, which saw nearly a 1-mph bump in velocity from his season average. Brewers hitters whiffed on eight of their 19 swings against the pitch.

With neither Byron Buxton nor Trevor Larnach available because of injury, the Twins had trouble producing any offense against Brewers right-hander Coleman Crow, who made his second career start. Crow carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, retiring his first 11 batters before Ryan Jeffers reached on an error.

Ryan Kreidler delivered a two-out single in the fifth inning, two batters after Kody Clemens was hit by a pitch, but Kreidler ran the Twins out of the inning when he was caught stealing in a botched attempted double steal play.

The Twins ran into two outs on the bases - Clemens was thrown out attempting to advance to third on Lewis' hit in the seventh inning - and they hit into two double plays over the final four innings.

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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 10:37 PM.