Minnesota Twins at Milwaukee Brewers

Kaelen Culpepper's whirlwind 24 hours started with a shower and ended with a different type of shower that featured mustard and baby powder in his hair. In between, the 23-year-old introduced himself to the Major Leagues with a bang. Culpepper launched his first career hit into the Brewers’ bullpen for a solo homer in his second MLB at-bat Friday night, providing an early spark as the Twins erased a four-run deficit to beat the Brewers, 8-6, at American Family Field. “I mean, it definitely felt great,” Culpepper said. “Fell behind in the count, but that didn’t change anything. I feel like I thrive with two strikes. So I stuck to my approach, got my hands back, saw something I could drive, took a really good swing on it.” And then, with a smile: “I need a couple more of those moving forward, for sure.” Culpepper had barely been a Major Leaguer for a day. He was in the shower Thursday with Triple-A St. Paul when a clubhouse attendant told him to report to manager Brian Dinkelman’s office. Culpepper walked in, saw the staff and coordinators gathered around and quickly realized what was happening. “I got pretty emotional,” Culpepper said before the game. “I started crying.” By Friday night, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 overall prospect was standing in the batter’s box in front of a sellout crowd of 42,118. “I never played in front of that many people in my life,” Culpepper said. “It was crazy. It was loud.” His first at-bat ended with a popout. Culpepper said getting it out of the way helped settle him. “After that, just like, ‘All right, now I’m here. Let’s go,’” Culpepper said.