3 moments that mattered in Twins' win

KANSAS CITY -- Eddie Rosario tossed his bat aside with a flourish as he ran to first after breaking his season-opening slump with a game-tying single in the ninth inning.

Well, it wasn’t his bat. After going hitless in his first 14 at-bats of the 2019 season, Rosario was desperate to change something. So he grabbed Marwin Gonzalez’s bat on his way out of the dugout in the ninth. And it worked.

Rosario’s single to left brought home Jorge Polanco to tie the game, setting the stage for Nelson Cruz to take advantage of a reversed call at third base one inning later with a game-winning RBI single to give the Twins a 5-4 victory over the Royals in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

But even before his ninth-inning heroics, Rosario had still found ways to contribute positively to the Twins’ victory with his aggressive baserunning and strong arm in left field. With that in mind, here’s a look at three moments that mattered from the Twins’ victory over the Royals:

1. Rosario runs through a stop sign to score tying run
Known throughout his career for his daring endeavors on the basepaths, Rosario took a chance to tie the game in the fourth inning when he scored from first base on C.J. Cron’s single to left field.

After breaking for second on Brad Keller’s payoff pitch to Cron, Rosario saw left fielder Alex Gordon lob the throw into the infield and decided to run through third-base coach Tony Diaz’s stop sign. Rosario said that he always remains mindful of outfielders’ throws to remain cognizant of any possible opportunities to take an extra base.

"It's my play,” Rosario said. “It's my ball, it's my play. [Diaz] tried to stop me, but I made the run. When I made the run, I was happy. Maybe I'm out, but then it's my fault."

Rosario’s aggression appeared to catch cutoff man Adalberto Mondesi by surprise, and after Mondesi double-clutched the throw home, Rosario slid in safely under Martin Maldonado’s tag to tie the game, 1-1.

“I love [Rosario’s] aggressiveness in general,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He takes that to all parts of his game. I think we'll get on the same page as far as the way when on the bases and picking up coaches. There will be things we talk about. But overall, I love his aggressiveness.”

In the bottom of the frame, he recorded his first outfield assist of the season when he threw Maldonado out at second base as the catcher tried to stretch a single into a double. Rosario has twice finished in the American League’s top five in outfield assists, including a fifth-place finish with nine assists last season.

"That's an important thing. If you're not [hitting], some other way, you find other ways to help the team win,” Rosario said. “That's what I did in that time. I ran through the sign, but I scored a run and helped the team win."

2. Rosario shakes off slump to tie the game again
Rosario’s season-opening slump came to a head in the seventh inning, when he stepped to the plate in a tie game with the bases loaded and none out -- and struck out.

"I'm not frustrated for the 0-for-14,” Rosario said. “I am when I have big moments. Positions for runs, men on second base or the bases loaded with no out, for example. I struck out.”

That was part of why he decided to switch things up in the ninth inning by using Gonzalez’s bat -- lighter than his own -- when he strode to the plate with one out and Polanco on second base.

"After going 0-for-14, I needed a base hit,” Rosario said. “I tried something crazy. I changed my bat up. And I got my base hit."

Rosario got a first-pitch fastball well off the plate from Ian Kennedy and lined it into left field for his first hit of the season, bringing home Polanco, who had doubled, to eventually send the game to extra innings.

“This is a guy I don't worry about one way, a bit, because his confidence does not waver,” Baldelli said. “It doesn't waver in any parts of his game, any aspect. His personality, it's just there. That part doesn't even cross my mind, how's he doing and things like that. He gets probably more mad than questioning himself.”

3. Cruz takes advantage of reversed call
With runners on first and second and two outs in the 10th inning, Cruz hit a grounder down the third-base line that was originally ruled fair by third-base umpire James Hoye, which resulted in an inning-ending forceout.

Cruz said that he had been content to return to the Twins’ dugout without complaint, but after a discussion between Hoye and home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger, the call was reversed to a foul ball, giving Cruz an extra chance.

“It's a difficult play from the dugout to have a really good feel as far as how to handle it, but we certainly would have spent some time talking on the phone [about a review],” Baldelli said.

Cruz took advantage by lining a single up the middle through a shifted infield for his team-leading sixth hit of the season, bringing home Willians Astudillo with the go-ahead run.

Buxton sustains contusion after colliding with wall
Byron Buxton sustained a back contusion after colliding with the center-field wall on Mondesi’s inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning and was removed from the game to be evaluated prior to the bottom of the ninth. He said after the game that he felt stiff and sore but hoped to feel better on Wednesday.

Buxton hit the wall with his left side as he made a late leap in an attempt to snare Mondesi’s line drive before it hit off the wall. He got to his feet in time to make a throw into the infield and fielded his position for the remainder of the inning, but Max Kepler took over in center field in the ninth, with Jake Cave entering the game to play right field.

After Buxton added 21 pounds during the offseason, he told reporters at TwinsFest in January that part of his motivation in gaining the weight was to add more “cushion” to his frame to support his all-out mentality in center field.

“Yeah, I can definitely say it helped,” Buxton said. “The past few years, that definitely hurt a little bit worse, especially running full speed.”

A stat that mattered
28.2 innings: The scoreless innings streak for Twins reliever Taylor Rogers that was finally snapped by Mondesi’s inside-the-park homer. Rogers’ streak dated back to July 30, 2018, and tied Johnny Klippstein (1965-66) for the third-longest scoreless streak in Twins history. He trailed J.C. Romero (36 innings) and Joe Nathan (29 innings).