SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
Twins’ outfielder Eddie Rosario had his entire family in attendance for Sunday’s game against the Indians. His parents, who hail from Puerto Rico, along with his wife and three children were all in the stands in Minnesota on Sunday to cheer Rosario on. He put on quite a show for them.
Rosario got the Twins on the board in the first inning, crushing a solo homer to left field off of Indians’ starter Mike Clevinger.
He went back to work in the seventh inning. Immediately after Brian Dozier had homered to tie the score at 4-4, Rosario greeted Indians’ reliever Tyler Olson with his second solo shot of the ballgame, putting the Twins ahead 5-4. He wasn’t done though.
Rosario saved the best for last. With the score knotted at 5-5 heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, Brian Dozier drew a leadoff walk off of Indians’ closer Cody Allen. It was then that Rosario’s father, Eddie Sr., stood up from his seat expecting something magical to happen. Rosario then crushed a walk-off two-run homer to center field, sending the Twins home as 7-5 winners.
"That walk-off -- I asked for it” Rosario Sr. said after the game. “As soon as it left the bat, I just said, 'Game over.' And a lot of things in Spanish. But it was great. I'm very glad with what he's doing right now. My emotions, I'm just excited. And the family is so happy right now. Heck of a game."
It was the second three-homer game in Rosario’s career and just the ninth time in Twins’ franchise history that a player has clubbed three home runs in a game.
Astoundingly, the last game that his parents attended, was June 13 against the Mariners last season, which just happened to be the only other time in his career that Rosario has left the yard three times. That came in a 20-7 thrashing of the M’s.
Rosario admitted after the game that he was swinging for the fences in that final at-bat. ''After he threw me a second ball, I knew he was going to throw me a fastball,'' Rosario told reporters after the game, “'It was up, and he throws 95, but I stayed through the ball. I didn't know where the ball was going, but I wanted to try to finish the game.''
Rosario has been on a tear at the plate over the last four weeks and is now slashing a robust .317/.352/.573 with 13 homers, 40 RBI and five stolen bases. Since May 1, he’s hitting .378 (48-for-127) with 10 homers and 28 RBI in 31 games.
With the victory, the Twins take three out of four games from the Indians, giving them their first series win against the Indians in Cleveland since the 2015 season.
