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 Pag¨¢n. 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.¡±