KANSAS CITY, Mo. Even though he was the Twins best hitter a year ago, Eddie Rosario doesnt need to hit to be valuable to the Twins.
He proved it again Tuesday and then got a critical hit too.
Rosario, the Twins MVP a year ago, threw a baserunner out from left field, and scored from first base on a single to help support the pitching of Jose Berrios. And after the Kansas City Royals ended Taylor Rogers scoreless-inning streak in the unlikeliest way with an inside-the-park home run Rosario ended his hitting drought with an RBI single in the ninth inning to tie the score at 4.
Then Nelson Cruzs RBI single in the 10th gave the Twins a 5-4 victory.
Rosario, 0-for-11 against the Indians over the weekend, grounded out twice and struck out in the games first seven innings Tuesday. But he also drew a walk off Kansas City starter Brad Keller in the fourth inning, and then confounded the Royals defense with his baserunning. When C.J. Cron drove a routine broken-bat single to shallow left-center field, Rosarios play was anything but routine. He rounded second base and headed for third, keeping his eye on left fielder Alex Gordon.
Rosario was near third base when Gordon retrieved Crons hit and casually tossed the ball to shortstop Adalberto Mondesi exactly the move that the Twins craftiest baserunner was looking for. He never broke stride and suddenly burst toward home plate. By the time Mondesi realized what was happening, it was too late. His throw sailed high, and Rosario slid home easily.
Considering that Marwin Gonzalez followed by striking out and Jonathan Schoop grounded it, its quite possible that run would never have scored without Rosarios aggressive baserunning.
When Royals catcher Martin Maldonado tried a little aggressive baserunning of his own in the bottom of the inning, Rosario was waiting for him, too. Maldonado smacked a line drive down the left field line, and decided he could stretch the hit into a double.
He was wrong. Rosario fired a perfect throw to second base, and Maldonado was tagged out by Schoop.
Berrios wasnt as sharp Tuesday as he had been on Opening Day, when he retired 23 batters and didnt allow a run, and the difference was apparent from the first pitch. Whit Merrifield lined that pitch, a 93-mph fastball, into left field for a double, extending his hitting streak to 24 games, including all four this season. He wasnt on second base long, however; Mondesi hit the very next pitch up the middle for a single, driving Merrifield home with the Royals first run.
Kansas City scored again in the fourth inning when Chris Swings tripled off the wall in right field, coming home on a sacrifice fly. In the sixth, Ryan OHearn smashed a fastball from Berrios over the wall in right field, only the second home run off Berrios in his last six starts.
Berrios went seven innings, allowing seven hits and striking out four. When he left, Rogers took over, and his streak of 28 2/3 scoreless innings dating back to July 28 came to an end. Mondesi slugged a long fly ball off the center-field fence, just over Byron Buxtons leaping attempt at a catch, and he rounded the bases before the Twins could retrieve the ball, breaking a 3-3 tie.
The Twins scored without Rosarios help in the fifth inning, when Nelson Cruz missed hitting his second home run of the season by about three feet. His blast off the right-field wall scored Byron Buxton and Max Kepler.
Minnesota missed an opportunity to score in the seventh inning, loading the bases with no outs despite hitting the ball only 50 feet in total. Kepler reached first base on a single when he hit a ball off home plate and it bounded into the air. Jorge Polanco followed with a bunt single, and Nelson Cruz walked. But Wily Peralta ended the inning without a run by striking out Rosario, retiring Cron on a lineout, and striking out Gonzalez.
