Amid major struggles, Twins’ Mickey Gasper delivers huge swing, great quote
Matt Wallner’s three-run homer in the ninth inning — his fourth homer in his last three games — put the Twins over the top in a 7-5 win.
But earlier in that inning, it was a much more unlikely hero who delivered the biggest swing of an MLB career that has struggled to get off the ground thus far. Mickey Gasper led off the inning by crushing a Jeff Hoffman fastball for his first career home run, tying the game at 4 in the process.
Mickey Gasper’s first Major League homer ties the game in the 9th for the @Twins! pic.twitter.com/ZzF3byDbJC
— MLB (@MLB) August 27, 2025
Coming through in that spot had to feel incredible for Gasper, who had already singled twice earlier in the game. This is a guy who came into Tuesday with seven hits in 79 MLB at-bats between his time with the Red Sox last year and multiple stints on the Twins’ roster in 2025. That’s a .089 batting average.
Gasper raked in the upper minor leagues in Boston’s system last year (.970 OPS), but went 0 for 18 in his first taste of the big leagues.
This year, he’s been similarly outstanding for Triple-A St. Paul (.915 OPS) but has really struggled to come up with any sort of production at the plate when he’s been with the Twins.
Within that context, you can only imagine how cathartic it must’ve been for Gasper to hit his first home run in his 100th MLB plate appearance, after more than 450 minor league games.
And yet, watching him round the bases, he looked like a guy who has come up with big hits like that one many times in the big leagues.
Afterwards, Twins sideline reporter Audra Martin asked him about his stoic response in that moment, which led to a great quote from the 29-year-old New Hampshire native.
“My dad always told me to act like you’ve done it before,” Gasper said. “So even though it was my first one… Mickey Mantle puts his head down and runs around the bases, Mickey Gasper should too.”
I freaking love moments like this. So well deserved for Mickey Gasper.
“Mickey Mantle puts his head down and runs around the bases, Mickey Gasper should too.”
What a quote! What a night! https://t.co/kW0wSHdNcY
— Audra Martin (@Audra_Martin) August 27, 2025
Even after a long overdue breakout game, Gasper is still hitting just .154 for the Twins this season, with a .492 OPS in 77 plate appearances.
But his OPS rose over 100 points on Tuesday, and maybe it’ll be the kind of performance that helps him start to find a rhythm.
Even if that doesn’t happen, this was a moment Gasper will never forget.
