ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Eddie Rosario hasn't homered off a left-handed pitcher since last September, so Paul Molitor kept him on the bench Friday as long as hard-throwing lefty Blake Snell was on the mound. But when right-hander Erasmo Ramirez entered the game, and the Twins put a runner in scoring position, Rosario was called upon.
Rosario swung easily and confidently at the first pitch he saw, a changeup in the middle of the strike zone, and belted it a dozen rows deep into the right-field seats at Tropicana Park, powering the Twins to their seventh win in nine games, 6-2 over the Rays.
Rosario also became the first Twins hitter since Jason Kubel in 2010 to smash two pinch-hit homers in one season. He wasn't the only Twins hitter to punish Ramirez, either.
An inning later, Miguel Sano added to his case for remaining in the big leagues by blasting his first home run in two weeks, a no-doubt line drive that landed a few rows short of the concourse in left field.
The Twins' hitting wasn't quite as overwhelming as it was in Cleveland earlier this week, though half of their nine hits were for extra bases.
But it came accompanied with something notably sporadic during their offensive surge: A quality start. Ervin Santana allowed only six hits over 61/3 innings against the Rays, a team that rocked him for three homers and five runs when they met in Target Field on June 4.
But even better than Santana's overall outing was his response to his only real jam of the night. After hitting Steven Souza with a pitch during a 1-1 game in the fifth inning, Santana gave up a double to Tim Beckham, putting the go-ahead run on third base.
His response? Santana needed only four pitches before getting Luke Maile to swing at a 92-mph fastball for strike three. He battled with Logan Forsythe for eight pitches before throwing a 95-mph fastball past him. And he threw an 84-mph slider in the dirt that Kevin Kiermaier whiffed at for the final out.
The three strikeouts gave him a season-high eight for the game, and though he surrendered a home run to Brad Miller in the sixth inning, Rosario restored Santana's fifth win of the season with his pinch-hit heroics an inning later.
