ANAHEIM, CALIF. – One area Robbie Grossman wanted to address this season is being more aggressive early in the count.

It's not an easy adjustment, because the Twins switch hitter has established himself as a player who is not afraid to be in 3-2 counts. Still, he knows there are times when the combination of knowing pitchers' habits as well as recognizing what his reputation is indicates that he should attack early.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I'm getting to the point where I'm trying to be aggressive when I get a good pitch early in the count and I think it will improve my game."

Grossman was 6-for-34 (.176) last season when he put the first pitch in play. This season, he's already 10-for-23 (.435) with two home runs.

He has been able to adjust while not getting away from what has made him valuable to the Twins. He entered Saturday fourth in the American League with a .415 on-base percentage and 10th in walks with 29. With Kennys Vargas and a struggling Byung Ho Park at Class AAA Rochester, Grossman figures to get most of the at-bats as the designated hitter with occasional stints in the outfield.

Grossman is one of the first players in the clubhouse every day. He studies opposing pitchers intently, even keeping notes on some. And he's trying to eliminate weaknesses.

Manager Paul Molitor has noticed, particularly when Grossman has gone after the first pitch.

"At first it caught me off-guard a few times, when he would ambush," Molitor said. "When you get a reputation of a guy in which part of his damage is that he can make you throw a lot of pitches and draw walks, guys have a tendency to try to get strike one."

Castro sits again

Catcher Jason Castro, the Twins' usual starter, was on the bench for a second game in a row Saturday as Chris Gimenez got the start.

Castro caught all 15 innings in the loss to Tampa Bay last Sunday and maintained a busy workload during the week. So Molitor decided it was time for Castro to get a break. He spoke to both catchers before the series about his plans.

"I think backing him off a couple days and trying to recharge him is a good thing," Molitor said of Castro.

Gimenez had a single and three walks Saturday night.

Helped right away

With the Twins enjoying a comfortable lead Friday, Molitor had a chance to use both of his new pitchers, Alex Wimmers and Randy Rosario.

Wimmers finished up for starter Kyle Gibson in the sixth inning, but with runners on the corners and two out, he hung a changeup that Martin Maldonado drove toward the gap in left-center. Byron Buxton ran it down to end the inning and the Angels' threat. Wimmers then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh.

The lefthanded Rosario made his major league debut in the eighth and pitched a clean inning. That included getting Albert Pujols to ground out to third.

Rosario gave up three runs in the ninth, including a two-run homer to Danny Espinosa off a hanging slider. But he got through it. His fastball topped out at 94 miles per hour, and he showed off a (mostly) sharp slider.

"The guy was in Chattanooga a couple days ago and now he's facing a Hall of Famer," Molitor said. "But overall, he got through the last two innings and we were able to refresh our bullpen."