Minnesota Twins

StaTuesday: Twins' Escobar, Rosario off and running

Published May. 15, 2018 2:39 p.m. ET

Dave Heller

Eduardo Escobar and Eddie Rosario have been a big part of the Minnesota Twins' offense this season.

The two players rank 1-2 on the Twins in slugging percentage, OPS, RBI, home runs and runs scored.

Recently, both Escobar and Rosario touched home plate in nine consecutive games, just the 22nd and 23rd times in Twins history that a player has had a streak of at least nine games while scoring a run. Escobar and Rosario are two of four to have had such a streak multiple times.

Escobar also had a 12-game streak in 2015 while Rosario reached nine games last season. Kirby Puckett, who holds the franchise record with 14 straight games with a run, had three streaks of 9+ games while Chuck Knoblauch had four, including a pair of 11-game streaks and one of 10.

CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH A RUN IN TWINS HISTORY

PLAYER	DATES	GAMES
Kirby Puckett	April 18-May 3, 1986	14
Orlando Cabrera	Sept. 19-Oct. 2, 2009	13
Eduardo Escobar	Aug. 20-Sept. 3, 2015	12
Rich Rollins	April 28-May 10, 1964	12
David Ortiz	July 17-28, 2002	11
Chuck Knoblauch	July 20-31, 1996	11
Chuck Knoblauch	Sept. 24, 1995-April 3, 1996	11
Brian Dozier	Sept. 19-Oct. 1, 2017	10
Chuck Knoblauch	June 6-17, 1997	10
John Castino	May 16-25, 1983	10
Jimmie Hall	Aug. 31-Sept. 11, 1966	10
Eduardo Escobar	April 30-May 8, 2018	9
Eddie Rosario	April 30-May 8, 2018	9
Eddie Rosario	Aug. 6-15, 2017	9
Joe Mauer	May 18-26, 2009	9
Corey Koskie	Aug. 15-24, 2004	9
Chuck Knoblauch	July 5-16, 1996	9
Scott Stahoviak	June 1-12, 1996	9
Dan Gladden	June 17-24, 1989	9
Kirby Puckett	Sept. 29, 1988-April 8, 1989	9
Kirby Puckett	June 15-25, 1987	9
Kent Hrbek	Oct. 3, 1981-April 13, 1982	9
Zoilo Versalles	Aug. 3-12, 1965	9

Escobar came ohsoclose to having a 13-game streak instead of nine. After scoring in three straight games from April 26-28, he led off the third inning against Cincinnati on Aug. 29 with a double, but was stranded there. He also reached third base with one on April 25 against the Yankees and wasn't able to tally a run. Escobar had scored in the April 24 Twins game, so with a little more luck, his streak could have set a new Twins record.

Rosario did tie one Twins record, however, when he had at least one run and one extra-base hit in seven straight games from May 1-May 7, joining Puckett as the only Minnesota players to reach that many consecutive games.

He fell one game short, though, of the franchise record when you include the Washington Senators.

CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH A RUN & XBH IN TWINS/SENATORS HISTORY

PLAYER	DATES	GAMES
Bill Keister	June 19-27, 1902	8
Eddie Rosario	May 1-7, 2018	7
Kirby Puckett	April 26-May 3, 1986	7
Joe Kuhel	Aug. 21-26, 1936	7
Heinie Manush	June 6-12, 1931	7

Miguel Sano nearly joined the list, scoring a run and posting an extra-base hit in six games this season from March 31-April 7. The only other Twins to have a six-game streak are Jacque Jones (2005), David Ortiz (2002), Kent Hrbek (1986), Puckett (1986) and Tony Oliva (1969).

Puckett's six-game streak, by the way, ended with a 1 for 4 game -- a single -- with a run against the Angels on April 25 (the Twins didn't play on April 24). His seven-game run/XBH streak started the next day.

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns