SANTANA'S SEVENTH: Ervin Santana got the first two outs of the seventh inning and had a chance to end the inning with a enough pitches to go out for the eighth. But T.J. Rivera got a double on a ball just inside the first base bag. Lefthanded hitter James Loney came to the plate, and Santana pitched around him. Then pinch hitter Alejandro De Aza, another lefty, came to the plate. ``I did not want to give into him and just go to the next batter," Santana said. He pitched De Aza carefully too, and walked him. Santana got a strikeout to end the inning. By the time it was over, Santana had thrown 25 pitches in the inning to give him 104 in the game. At that point, Paul Molitor was not going to let him go out for the eighth. ``I'm not going to push it," Molitor said. ``It was time to turn it over."
ROSARIO'S DIVE: Well, it happened. Eddie Rosario tried to dive into first base in the 10th inning while trying to beat out an infield hit and injured his left thumb. It did not look good, from my vantage point," Molitor said. Molitor even wondered if the thumb was broken. But Rosario was able to move his thumb after the game and thought he was going to be O.K. ``When you fracture something you right away," Rosario said. ``It hurts, but once the swelling goes down we will be able to tell more. But I can do all my movement with my fingers. I think I got lucky there." How about the dive into first? The pitcher was covering the bag, and Rosario tried to beat him to it. You can't maintain momentum once you leave your feet, but there are times when it is acceptable. Like to avoid a tag or a collision. Molitor did not have a problem with the decision. ``We don't dive into first very often," Molitor said. ``But it was a chance to beat a pitcher. That base didn't give." We should learn more about Rosario tomorrow.
BUXTON BUNT: I'm not that big of a fan of giving up outs early in the games, and I thought Byron Buxton's bunt in the second inning on Saturday came at a bad time. There was a runner on first - with one out - and Buxton tried to lay one down. He was bunting for a hit, but that puts two on for Juan Centeno with the pitcher due up after him. That was not the right situation to try that. As it turned out, the ball hit him before he got out of the batter's box, and he was called out. Who knows what would have happened if he had swung away. Maybe he would have had two home runs on Saturday.
