Outman's slam powers Dodgers to 6th straight series win

LOS ANGELES -- In his still-young career, rookie outfielder James Outman has been no stranger to big moments. The latest came on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium against the Twins in the form of a game-winning grand slam.

The decisive swing gave the Dodgers a 7-3 victory and helped secure a sixth straight series win for Los Angeles.

“There's no secret I was grinding,” said Outman. “My teammates were keeping me positive. David [Peralta], Jason [Heyward], Will [Smith], Freddie [Freeman], to name a few. … They were keeping me centered and it felt really good to finally come through in a big spot.”

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Entering the game, Outman was in the midst of a mini-slump, having gone hitless in his last 12 at-bats with six strikeouts. He flied out in his first at-bat, then ended the 0-fer with a soft infield single to lead off the fourth against Sonny Gray, ultimately coming around to score on a Mookie Betts single.

“It was definitely a breath of fresh air, just getting on base and then being able to score off that,” said Outman. “It was like, ‘OK, I can help the team and contribute today.’”

But Outman’s biggest contribution came three innings later. The Dodgers entered the bottom of the seventh down by a run and had just retied it on Miguel Vargas’ bases-loaded walk when Outman stepped into the box against reliever Emilio Pagán. Outman swung at the first pitch he saw, a 95.5 mph four-seamer down in the zone, and sent it a Statcast-projected 407 feet to center field.

“You know, I'm happy we just got the run, to be honest,” said Outman. “The three were bonuses, but I'm glad that we got the go-ahead right there in that situation. But a grand slam is kind of like the cherry on top.

“I was trying to hit a ground ball to second base.”

The blast was Outman’s second grand slam of the season, the first coming on April 20 against the Cubs’ Michael Fulmer in Chicago to break a tie in the ninth inning. Outman became the first Dodger to hit two go-ahead grand slams in the seventh inning or later in the same season since Nomar Garciaparra did so in 2006.

Outman has had a strong start to the year overall, earning NL Rookie of the Month honors for April after slashing .292/.376/.615 with seven homers. That total set the Dodgers’ franchise record for most by a rookie in March/April. The month of May, however, has not been quite as hospitable to him thus far, as he’d hit just one home run prior to Wednesday.

As manager Dave Roberts sees it, though, that’s just the nature of being a rookie in the big leagues.

“He's trying to figure it out, trying to learn the league,” said Roberts. “They're trying to learn him, they're making adjustments. … It's not linear. You’ve got to keep making adjustments as the league makes adjustments on you.”