A couple of Labor Day extras:
Brian Dozier wasn't the only Twin achieving a historic first on Monday. Eddie Rosario did something unique, too.
Rosario doubled to lead off the fourth inning, his 17th of the season, and with a 3-2 lead at the time, Twins manager Paul Molitor decided to move him up to third, where a sacrifice fly would score him. So he asked Eduardo Escobar to lay down a bunt.
Escobar did, but the play worked out better than the Twins could have imagined. His bunt rolled about 20 feet in front of the plate, in the direction of shortstop, and Royals catcher Salvador Perez hustled out to make the play. He picked up the ball and whirled to throw to first base, falling down as he did so. Third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert started toward the ball, but backed up toward third base when he saw Perez would field it.
And that's when Rosario made a terrifically heads-up judgement. As he neared third base, he saw Perez fielding the ball, but no Royal running over to take his place at home plate. So Rosario simply sped up and rounded third base, catching the Royals defense by surprise. With nobody covering the plate, first baseman Eric Hosmer had to hold on to the ball while Rosario scored standing up.
It appears that Rosario's play is unique in Twins history. Of the 2,714 sacrifice bunts the Twins have pulled off in their 56 seasons, Escobar's bunt was the 88th to include credit for an RBI. But in all 87 of the previous instances, the runner who scored started on third base. Never before had a runner scored from second on a sacrifice bunt, without an error being the reason.
I wondered how often that play had occurred anywhere, and I didn't have to look far. The Marlins pulled off the exact same play just three weeks ago, on Aug. 14 against the White Sox, with Ichiro Suzuki laying down a bunt, and Adeiny Hechavarria hustling home when Chicago catcher Omar Narvaez fields the ball.
XXX