Wallner's 'massive moment' flips script on Tigers in opener

MINNEAPOLIS -- Matt Wallner is a Minnesota kid who grew up going to Twins games at the Metrodome, with fond memories of being blown out the stadium doors by the air-pressure gradient when he left after games.

If the Twins were still playing under that white fiberglass roof, Wallner and the capacity crowd might have blown it off the building on Tuesday night.

The youth movement is alive and well in the Twin Cities, as Wallner might as well have hit the baseball to his hometown of Forest Lake for a go-ahead, 450-foot grand slam, the first of his career, to cap a five-run sixth inning in the Twins’ 5-3 victory over the Tigers at Target Field.

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“Sometimes, you need a massive moment, and that was great,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The ball was in the air forever, so we got a chance to celebrate for a while together. And then it landed. And then we got to play the rest of the game from there. That’s not one we will forget. That was more than a nice swing.”

Wallner dropped his bat in one fluid motion and walked a few steps out of the batter’s box as he watched the baseball soar an estimated 450 feet into the right-center-field upper deck. It was the longest grand slam by a Twins hitter tracked by Statcast and the second longest in the Majors this season, behind only a 456-footer by Baltimore’s Ryan Mountcastle on April 11.

“I just knew,” Wallner said. “I knew it was gone. Not going to toss the bat. A little simple bat drop is kind of what I’ve got.”

As the crowd of 30,150 roared its approval, Max Kepler and Royce Lewis threw their arms in the air while watching the ball’s flight from the basepaths while Carlos Correa turned and pointed to Wallner as the rookie approached first base.

The crowd didn’t sit after Wallner crossed home plate and entered the dugout; instead, as Ryan Jeffers waited to bat, the roars grew louder until Wallner emerged up the steps, fishing vest across his chest like a proper Minnesotan, arm raised above his head to receive the curtain call that has grown rarer at Target Field over the years.

“I didn’t really know what to do,” Wallner said. “So, that was more, I guess, just run up the steps and wave your hand. I’ve only really seen it on TV.”

Coupled with Wallner’s walk-off homer in the final game of the Twins’ last homestand, the grand slam served as another reminder that as the games grow in importance -- into October, the Twins hope -- much will ride on the young players who have forced their way into these big moments.

Wallner is the latest to have delivered in a crucial spot. Blocked for much of the season by the Twins’ glut of left-handed corner outfielders despite crushing Triple-A pitching, the defending organizational Minor League Player of the Year forced Minnesota's hand and has stuck in the big leagues since his first appearance on July 17.

Since then, Wallner has hit .212/.302/.529 (an .831 OPS) with eight homers in 27 games, one shy of the American League lead in that span.

“He looks like a new guy from when we first saw him,” Baldelli said. “The quality of the at-bats has continued to grow, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he continues to do, because I doubt he's made all the changes to what he's doing at the plate. I think he's got more in the tank. [There's] a lot of ability in this young man, and he's showing us a lot right now.”

Wallner isn’t the only young player to impress Minnesota recently. Edouard Julien has done something similar, forcing himself into the picture as the Twins’ regular second baseman with his performance -- and, on Tuesday, Lewis returned to that mix, too, with a two-strike RBI single in that sixth inning, part of three consecutive singles that set up Wallner’s slam.

The budding young stars are making their presence felt.

“We have a good [organization], man,” Lewis said. “You're always fighting. Always fighting for a spot, just to be up here. And then when you are up here, you just take advantage. I think [Wallner is] doing just that. It's fun to watch. 'Just let the kids play.' That term is perfect for our team. We've got a lot of young guys. Let the kids play.”