A trio of extras after the end to the Twins' winning streak:
As Taylor Rogers walked into the dugout Tuesday after killing a Royals rally, Paul Molitor had a question for him.
"I asked him when's the last time he was in a game in the second inning," the Twins manager said. "He couldn't remember, except when he started."
That's because it's never happened. Rogers had pitched 163 major-league games, all in relief, and another dozen relief appearances in the minor leagues (he was primarily a starter until 2016), and he had never been summoned into a game in the second inning.
Turns out, it's quite a good inning for him. Called in to relieve starter Aaron Slegers, Rogers needed only three pitches to get out of the jam by inducing Mike Moustakas to hit into an inning-ending double play. Then Rogers cruised through a 1-2-3 third inning — his first big-league third inning, too — with two ground balls and a strikeout. And he got two quick outs in the fourth before walking Adalberto Mondesi, causing Molitor to pull him because his pitch count had reached 37, one fewer than his major-league high.
Molitor hadn't set out to try Rogers in a new role, but Slegers' rough night made him consider it. And since Rogers had only thrown 13 pitches since July 1, he seemed particularly suited to emergency early work.
"Looking at the innings that I had, where we were, I knew that he was fresh and could probably give me close to two innings, if not a tad more," Molitor said of Rogers, whose seven outs were also one fewer than his career high, set back in 2016. "I thought that was the best way to shut it down, try to keep it there until I turned it over to [Matt] Magill."
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