BOSTON — It was the argument of winners, a back-and-forth more celebration than debate. Why, Eddie Rosario wanted to know, didn't Taylor Rogers celebrate more vigorously when Jason Castro tagged out Rafael Devers to end the game?
"If he's out, you're the umpire!" Rosario shouted amid a raucous Twins clubhouse.
"I gave it a massive fist pump!" Rogers objected.
The teammates laughed and grinned, the spoils of another win on a terrific road trip. They were exhilarated by the moment — but maybe a little relieved by the near-miss, too. Rogers, after all, left a low slider in the middle of the plate, and J.D. Martinez, with the tying run on base, applied the bat barrel that had pounded 34 home runs already this season.
But "I didn't think [Martinez] had it. He got it pretty good, but it wasn't clean," Rogers, who could tell by the sound, said of the potential game-winning homer. "I figured it was going to hit off the wall — and I knew Rosie was out there."
He was, and he was ready. Like when the Twins need a clutch walk-off, like when he sees a glimmer of a double in his routine singles, Rosario seized the moment.
"I didn't want to try too much, and overthrow the ball to home plate. … When I saw [cutoff man] C.J. Cron, I said, 'No cut the ball, no cut the ball,' that's the last chance to take this guy," Rosario said. "That's a big moment. That's the most fun for me, the big moments."
Yeah, his teammates have noticed.