“I had some guys helping me out,” McCusker said. “Just giving me some tips before the game to try to figure it out. It can just take some time to know exactly where the bounces are going.”
The Twins tied the score in the bottom of the first on Ty France’s RBI single. McCusker struck out looking in the second, his one plate appearance before the delays. But his swing at a 1-1 pitch from Logan Allen will never be forgotten. His bat slipped out of his hands, sailed over shortstop and landed in left field. Shortstop Gabriel Arias picked up the bat and handed to the Twins bat boy for the relay.
“I just started laughing,” McCusker said. “And I turned to the umpire and said, ‘You ever see a bat go that far?’ He said: ‘No, I haven’t. That’s the furthest I’ve ever seen.’ ”
McCusker, 26, was batting .350 with 10 homers and 36 RBI in 38 games for the Saints when he was called up. He’s known for his eye-popping exit-velocity marks, and the trip his bat went on in the second inning shows how hard he rips at baseballs. After seeing Target Field for the first time a few weeks ago, he enjoyed being able to play in a game for the first time.
“It was awesome,” McCusker said. “The weather obviously wasn’t great, but it was a lot of fun. Good energy. Good atmosphere.”
Hopefully, McCusker will get to experience what the energy is like when fans, and their pets, don’t have to be amphibious to enjoy a game.
