ANAHEIM, CALIF. – Eddie Rosario's 14th home run of the season moved him into a tie for fifth place in the AL. But if there was a signature Eddie Rosario moment in Thursday's 16-7 Twins victory over the Angels, it came on a ball that traveled maybe 150 feet.
That's how far Luis Arraez's popup traveled in the second inning, a seemingly failed attempt to drive in a run. But Rosario, standing on third base, didn't give up on the play.
Instead, he tagged up and shocked Angels shortstop Zack Cozart by sprinting home. Backpedaling on the play, Cozart took a moment to get a grip on the ball, then fired home, about 10 feet up the line as Rosario slid past.
"It takes aggressiveness, but it also takes good baseball decision-making out on the field," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "There are times where if you misjudge what's going on and don't see it properly, you're out by a lot."
Rosario takes pride in going all-out on the bases, though, and frequently startles fielders with his risk-taking.
"Obviously, it was a good read," Baldelli said. "It's not always easy to make a throw off your back foot when you're going backward to make a catch. It doesn't look overly challenging, but it's a challenging play. And it was a good instinctual baseball play on our end."
The way to travel these days
While the Twins scrambled to make arrangements to stay in Anaheim on Wednesday after their game was postponed, the Texas Rangers arrived in town. They open a weekend series here on Friday, but chose to travel to California a day earlier than necessary.
That's becoming more common around baseball, and the Twins intend to join the trend this year, too. For instance, the team will fly to Florida on Tuesday immediately after its game with Milwaukee, even though they don't play the Rays until Thursday.
