ROSARIO RESTS

Amed Rosario was absent from Thursday’s lineup against the Nationals despite his recent resurgence at the plate. The shortstop is .462 (6-13) with four extra base hits over his last four games and has posted an .857 OPS in nine games this month.

Yet Callaway opted to save Rosario from facing All-Star Max Scherzer in hopes of preserving his confidence and rhythm. “Max Scherzer is one of the toughest guys in the big leagues against righties — that’s just a fact,” Callaway said. “Rather than make it a little harder on him today, here we can get some good work in before the game and keep him focusing on the things he needs to do to continue to get better.” Callaway expects Rosario to start the final three games of the series against the Nationals.

Rosario did get an at-bat in the ninth inning as the potential go-ahead run, but the shortstop sharply hit into a game-ending 6-6-3 double play. “We thought that the way (Rosario) runs, he could create some havoc on the basepaths if he ended up hitting the ball on the ground,” Callaway said .