Eddie Rosario has done this before, so he's not proclaiming his five-week-old torrid streak as anything special. Maybe people don't remember his scorching August performance last summer, but he does.

"It was a good month. Nothing different," Rosario said of those everyday heroics of 2017, when he collected seven doubles, nine homers and 25 RBI in August. "But now I want to try and focus. Every day is a new day."

One thing is different. The blazing Rosario of a year ago helped lead the Twins to a 20-10 month and a charge up the wild-card standings. This year, the 26-year-old might be even more locked in — in 35 games since May 1, Rosario has piled up 52 hits, including 12 doubles, 11 homers and 31 RBI, and has batted .364 — but his team has yet to follow. The Twins are 18-17 since Rosario went ballistic at the plate.

"It's getting better. He's hitting, and we're starting to follow," said the Twins' other hot hitter, Eduardo Escobar. "I love Eddie Rosario, man. Every time he comes to home plate, he's going to swing. I'm so happy to play with him. Most importantly, everybody plays together and make a win for the team."

Rosario did so with a first-inning double, then scored on Escobar's home run. In the fourth inning, Rosario hit a three-run homer, and Escobar followed with a single.

"He's just, from a guy who wasn't penciled in to be an everyday player, [Escobar] has been essential to our offense," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "And I feel like [Rosario] is going to put a good swing on the ball every time he's up there."

Reinstated, demoted

Trevor May's 15-month return from elbow surgery officially ended Thursday, but not the way he hoped. May, who missed the entire 2017 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery to replace a ligament in his pitching elbow, was activated from the 60-day disabled list and placed on the Twins' 40-man roster — but he was simultaneously optioned to Class AAA Rochester, where he has been pitching since mid-May.

With his 30-day rehab assignment due to expire Monday, the Twins made the decision that the righthander — who has appeared in 102 Twins games, including 25 starts from 2014 to '16 — is not ready to return to the majors. May had a 5.50 ERA in six rehab appearances in Class AA and AAA totaling 18 innings, and a 6.60 ERA with Rochester, to go along with an 0-3 record.

To make room on their respective rosters, the Twins moved catcher Jason Castro to the 60-day disabled list — he is out for the year after undergoing knee surgery last month — and the Red Wings transferred righthander Omar Bencomo back to Class AA Chattanooga.

Etc.

• Logan Morrison returned to the lineup Thursday after missing three games because of back pain, and the Twins made sure he returned to first base, too. "With backs, you always monitor it, just because of the fact that it was nothing structural, it was just a spasm," bench coach Derek Shelton said. "It's one of the reasons we wanted to have him in the field, just to keep him moving the whole game instead of having him DH, where he would have downtime during the game." Morrison, batting cleanup, doubled in four at-bats.

• First baseman Joe Mauer emphasized baserunning in his pregame workout, doing a series of sprints around the bases and trying to simulate game action. He also took ground balls as he prepares for a return from his cervical strain.

• Miguel Sano and Max Kepler were out of the Twins lineup, but Shelton said it had more to do with keeping them fresh and the bench players involved than their slow starts to June. Kepler is 3-for-21 (.143) in the new month, while Sano is 2-for-18 (.111) with nine strikeouts.