Trailing 2-1 after six innings, the Twins hung five runs in the final three frames to beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario hit home runs and Brian Dozier tripled as the Minnesota offense came to life again.
“I’m looking for a breaking ball, changeup, but every pinch hitter, you go aggressive to home plate,” Rosario, who became the first Twin to hit two pinch-hit home runs in a season since Jason Kubel in 2010, told the Pioneer Press. “I’m looking (for) a good pitch to hit. He threw me a changeup hanging in the middle.”
“He was doing a nice job in Cleveland on off-speed pitches, fighting off fastballs,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Star Tribune. “The calmness is giving him a little more time for [pitch] recognition.”
Sano, who arrived to Tropicana Field early for an extra workout and could be sent down when Trevor Plouffe comes back from his rehab stint, hit his first home run in two weeks.
“I’m just playing baseball, focused, doing my job, working hard. That’s what it all comes to,” Sano told the Star Tribune. “Two weeks ago, I was struggling. In Cleveland I started feeling comfortable. I want to keep doing my thing.”
It was the Twins’ seventh win in their past nine games as they inch closer to passing Tampa Bay in the standings and getting out of the AL cellar.
“It’s not a primary goal by any means,” Molitor told the Pioneer Press. “If we play the way I feel that we can and continue to trend and see growth and smarter play, better play, there’s a good chance that can happen.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Associated Press]
