Max Kepler saw the ball flying toward the wall in right-center field, heard the crowd erupt and he gestured to his teammates as he ran up the first-base line.
It didn't end up exactly how Kepler imagined it.
He missed a grand slam by a couple of feet, the ball hitting off the top of the wall, but a three-run triple was a fine consolation prize.
"I pimped it a little too early," Kepler said after the Twins' 8-4 victory over the Mets on Saturday at Target Field. "Luckily, it took a bounce where I could advance to third. I'm not that guy, usually. I try to play the game hard. Hopefully, the baseball gods won't be too mad at me for that one."
Entering as a pinch hitter to face Mets reliever Drew Smith, Kepler pointed at his teammates after a head-first slide into third and broke into a wide smile as he high-fived coach Tommy Watkins. The near-slam, which had teammates breaking into laughter, was the breakthrough hit that evaded the Twins for several innings Saturday.
"I got some comments from my teammates that it's one of their favorite slides," Kepler said. "I don't know what I'm doing out there. I'm just having fun."
Kepler has been having plenty of fun lately. Since the All-Star break, he is batting .301 over 49 games with nine homers, 15 doubles and, now, one triple.
He was 2-for-11 as a pinch hitter this season when he stepped to the plate. The Twins extended the seventh inning after Willi Castro hit a leadoff single and was thrown out attempting to steal second base, only the fifth time he was caught stealing this year. Alex Kirilloff walked, Royce Lewis hit a single and Carlos Correa drew a walk to load the bases.