The rain got the best of Carson McCusker on Monday night.
McCusker stepped up to the plate in the second inning of the Minnesota Twins’ matchup with the Cleveland Guardians as decent rain was falling at Target Field in Minneapolis. But when the right fielder went to swing at a pitch, well, McCusker completely lost control of the bat.
It wasn’t just a little bit, either. McCusker sent his bat absolutely flying. The bat made it all the way into left field, where it calmly came to rest as everyone slowly realized what had happened. As Guardians players went to retrieve it, McCusker and the home plate umpire just stood there laughing.
Carson McCusker nearly hit a home run with the bat… literally.#MNTwinspic.twitter.com/rPDzpVMvAb
— Talkin’ Twins (@TalkinTwins) May 20, 2025
Whoops.
To make the situation even better, McCusker had just been called up to the Twins from their Triple-A affiliate on Saturday. Monday was just his second game in the big leagues. But, to McCusker’s credit, that very likely would’ve been a single had he actually made contact with the ball instead of trying to cut corners with his bat.
Eventually, McCusker struck out looking. The game was tied 1-1 at the time, but Willi Castro hit an RBI double later in the inning to put the Twins up by a run. By the end of the third inning, however, officials decided they had had enough and sent the game into a rain delay. The game was called off for the day and will resume on Tuesday at 5:10 p.m. CT, with Game 2 of the series to follow.
The Twins entered Monday’s contest with a 26-21 record. They have won 13 of their last 14, too, after their impressive win streak came to an end on Sunday when the Milwaukee Brewers beat them, 5-2. The Guardians, on the other hand, came into Monday’s game on a four-game losing skid.
While McCusker is hoping to get the hang of things with his new club, Monday’s bat incident was an incredible way for him to kick off his time with the Twins.
