Emmanuel Rodriguez had to wait a few extra months for a call-up that likely was coming soon before he injured his thumb in May. But once he got that opportunity, he wasted no time making his impact felt.

Rodriguez became the seventh Twin in team history to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, and first to accomplish the feat since Eddie Rosario did it in 2015.

The homer kickstarted a 4-3 win over Cleveland on Saturday afternoon at Target Field.

“It was mesmerizing,” Rodriguez said through interpreter/teammate Pablo López. “It was one of those things that I was joking with my family and they were joking with me, ‘Can you imagine if you hit a homer in your first at-bat?’ It’s probably one of those ways that baseball can make things happen. So special.”

Even before his first at-bat, Rodriguez showed off his arm, throwing out left fielder Angel Martinez at third base in the top of the second inning.

The Guardians scored their first run on that play, a Travis Bazzana single that plated Jo Adell. But it was a pivotal moment, helping prevent further damage.

“That was a crucial play in the game,” said Twins starter Connor Prielipp, who gave up three runs in 5 innings. “It probably, honestly, saved the game and kept me in the game a lot longer.”

Rodriguez erased that lead an inning later.

On the fourth pitch of his first at-bat, Rodriguez unleashed on a fastball from Franco Aleman, sending it out to the bullpen in left-center field.

As he trotted around the bases, he raised his right eye high in the air. When he crossed home plate, he clapped a few times before entering a hyped-up Twins dugout.

It was the beginning of a four-run rally that held up despite Cleveland later adding a pair of runs in the fifth. Singles from Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee, Kody Clemens and Royce Lewis followed, producing two more runs. Later, Victor Caratini was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in the Twins’ fourth run of the inning.

“Kid’s first major-league at-bat and he goes backside for a homer; yeah, that’s going to provide energy. And then we responded,” manager Derek Shelton said. “And we responded in a way that we were able to tack on. We didn’t hit a ton of balls hard. We put balls in play, and we were able to tack on, which I felt was important. But I definitely do feel the energy was palpable there.”

After the Twins’ rally was over, Rodriguez was shown on the left field video board in between innings and emerged from the dugout, a wide smile on his face, to salute the Target Field crowd. Rodriguez said his aim is to put on a show for the fans, and he had no words to describe how grateful he was for the ovation.

Rodriguez flew out in his second at-bat, lined out at 101.8 mph off the bat in his third, then hit a long fly ball to center field — also struck at more than 101 mph off the bat — in his final plate appearance.

“Watching, coming up with him over the years, it’s just like you know he has all the talent in the world, and finally everyone got to see it,” Prielipp said.

It was an exciting debut day for Rodriguez and the Twins, as they start to get a look at the future core of their lineup with Rodriguez, Keaschall, Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper now all in the majors.

Jenkins did not play on Saturday, and the Twins only briefly got to see Culpepper and Rodriguez in the same lineup because Culpepper was hit in the back by a pitch in the third inning and, after having a hard time getting up and heading to first, was removed from the game. X-rays were negative, and the Twins say Culpepper has a contusion, which Shelton said will likely keep him off the field for a day or two.