ATLANTA -- Years earlier, when Derek and Katrina Walker would cave to the near-daily requests from their middle child, Jordan, to make the short drive from Decatur, Ga., to downtown Atlanta to see Braves games, they never could have envisioned what their eyes witnessed on Tuesday night.

Not only was Jordan out on a big league field and facing the once-beloved Braves, but the 6-foot-6, 245-pound man-child also smashed a ball a Statcast-projected 413 feet out to the same sort of seats where the family used to sit. Seemingly oblivious to the pressures that usually befall most 21-year-olds coming back home for the first time, the Cardinals' prized rookie pounded out three hits, including his third home run in as many games, and drove in two runs in St. Louis' 10-6 defeat of the Braves at Truist Park.

Sitting some 30 rows away from the Cardinals' dugout along with grandmother, Normarene, the Walkers were in awe of the fairytale that had just played out in front of them. Derek’s phone battery died mid-game from the 30 or so friends and family scattered throughout the crowd of 33,553 who repeatedly sent him pictures of his son at the plate and on the bases. “Dearee,” as Jordan likes to call his grandmother, stood and waved a towel as the slugger rounded the bases during his home run trot, hoping to lock eyes with her superstar grandson. Repeatedly, Katrina and Derek thought about all those trips taking their son to Braves games, and now he was actually out there playing in one.

“This was fantastic, and we were on a high all game long,” said Derek, who has traveled around the country to see his son play in his first MLB season. “All he had to do was show up and walk out on the field and it was over for us. Him getting three hits and a home run, we couldn’t have scripted it better. If we wrote a novel about this, nobody would believe it and call it a fantasy. But this was our fantasy, and it was fantastic.”

Walker teamed with 23-year-old slugger Nolan Gorman and muscular outfielder Tyler O’Neill to give the homer-happy Braves a taste of their own medicine. Gorman hit balls 426 and 403 feet for his 25th and 26th home runs of the season. O’Neill drilled a fastball 108.2 mph, per Statcast, for a two-run shot in the second inning. Then, Walker smoked a ball 104.7 mph for his fourth home run in the past five games.

The Braves also hit four solo home runs, but it wasn’t enough to match the power display put on by the Cardinals. Before Tuesday, Atlanta was 57-14 when hitting at least two home runs and 16-1 when hitting four homers.

“That’s a really good team across the way, one through nine, and they’re never out of any game,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “No matter the lead, you’re not ever extremely comfortable and you’ve got to continue to add on and our guys did that by taking some really good swings.”

Several of those good swings belonged to Walker, who was able to block out the nerves, homecoming hoopla and ticket requests and thrive against the team he grew up rooting for. Walker idolized Hall of Famer Chipper Jones when he was a child, played for a youth team sponsored by former catcher Javy Lopez and he once got to meet Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur at a banquet.

Somehow, Walker was able to set aside those memories and the emotions coursing through his veins and tend to the task at hand. He hit Atlanta at the best point in his rookie season, and after his three-hit night he’s 15-for-25 (.600), with four home runs and nine RBIs in his past seven games.

“It was really just about having fun and having a good time,” Walker said. “It was my dream to finally play on this field, and I wanted to play in the big leagues. I wanted to play [at Truist Park] and against the Braves, and I wanted to beat them really bad.”  

Nobody wanted anything more than the Walker family wanted to see their son playing on the same field where they used to attend games and dream about the future. So many mentors on Walker’s path to the pros got to see the dream become reality.

“Preschool teachers from when Jordan was 5 years old, youth coaches, former ballplayers -- they were all here for him,” Katrina said.

“You dream about this, but you figure it’s just a dream and that’s about it,” added Derek. “He didn’t need to do anything tonight. Him just walking on the field was 100 percent a victory for us. Everything else is just gravy.”