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 Rosario homered on the first pitch of his first at-bat, sparking a
four-run inning as the Twins rolled to a 13-0 win over the Oakland
Athletics at Target Field on Wednesday.
Rosario, called up from Triple-A Rochester on Monday, smacked a
first-pitch fastball from Oakland left-hander Scott Kazmir over the
left-field fence to lead off the bottom of the third inning,
becoming the sixth Twins player in history to homer in his first
major league at-bat and the first since Luke Hughes did it in 2010.
"Awesome moment," Rosario said. "First at-bat, first time hitting
the ball, first pitch. Trying to be aggressive."
"That's pretty rare in this game," Twins manager Paul Molitor said.
"It was exciting. And it was a big run, we were facing one of the
guys who is off to a really good start. It got the ball rolling for
us."
The home run was the first blow to Kazmir, who struggled for the
first time this season in his sixth start. Kazmir took the loss,
allowing six runs on seven hits and a pair of walks in six innings
of work. He had allowed six runs total over his first five starts.
"A couple pitches that they put good swings on. I felt like I didn't
have a feel for my cutter for the most part. I got hurt with that
pitch quite a few times," Kazmir said. "That pitch was really
inconsistent for me, and they made me pay for it."
Minnesota scored in bunches, getting four in the third, two in the
sixth, four more in the seventh and three in the eighth. It was the
third time in the past seven games the Twins have scored 12 runs or
more.
Right-hander Kyle Gibson was the beneficiary of the offensive
support, overcoming mediocre stuff to scatter four hits and two
walks while striking out one and keeping Oakland off the board.
Gibson, who went eight shutout innings his last time out against the
Chicago White Sox, has not allowed a run in his last 17 innings.
"It was a battle all six innings," Gibson said. "Whether I was
battle mechanics, batting a hitter, battling everything tonight. But
that's the kind of night you like to turn in when you don't have
your best stuff. I was able to make pitches when I needed to."
Twins left fielder Eduardo Escobar went 3-for-4 with a homer, a
double and five RBIs. Shortstop Danny Santana had three hits and
scored three runs. Kennys Vargas, who entered the game late for
first baseman Joe Mauer, hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning.
Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie had two hits. His second-inning
double extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Center fielder Coco
Crisp, activated off the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, went
0-for-4 in his first action this season.
The Athletics, who won 2-1 on Tuesday, have been unable to win
consecutive games since April 13-14.
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"It's very frustrating," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "There was a
great feeling in here yesterday when we won a hard-fought game, one
run and then today we have (Kazmir) going to the mound, and we feel
good about it. We just couldn't put together a good game."
The first four Twins batters in the third inning reached base.
Rosario's homer gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. Santana followed with a
triple. After a walk by second baseman Brian Dozier, right fielder
Torii Hunter singled to right, scoring Santana.
Two batters later, a single to left field by third baseman Trevor
Plouffe drove in Dozier before and then a sacrifice fly by Escobar
scored Hunter to make it 4-0.
Gibson worked around trouble in the second, getting shortstop Marcus
Semien to line out to short with two runners in scoring position,
and also in the fifth, working around back-to-back hits to start the
inning by getting center fielder Coco Crisp to bounce into an
inning-ending 6-3 double play.
Escobar homered in the sixth to make it 6-0 before a two-run double
in the seventh capped another four-run inning.
The three-run blast by Vargas in the eighth was his third of the
season.
NOTES: Athletics OF Coco Crisp was activated from the 15-day
disabled list and batted leadoff. He missed the first month of the
season while recovering from elbow surgery. ... Oakland OF Craig
Gentry was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. He had three hits in 35
at-bats this season. ... Minnesota won for the sixth time in seven
games. ... The Athletics and the Twins will play the final game of
the four-game series Thursday at Target Field. Oakland LHP Drew
Pomeranz (1-2, 4.61 ERA) faces Minnesota RHP Ricky Nolasco (1-1,
10.13).
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