Kevin Gorman: Colin Moran has grand time in Pirates' home opener

Colin Moran was about to cross home plate and hadn't so much as cracked a smile, the feeling too fresh to sink in.

It wasn't until he heard the roar from the crowd and saw the reaction of his teammates in the dugout that Moran reveled in the magic of the moment.

In the first at bat of his first game as a Pirate at PNC Park, Moran hit a grand slam, propelling a 5-4 victory Monday over the Minnesota Twins.

#Pirates third baseman Colin Moran gets a bubble gum shower from Josh Bell and Gregory Polanco after Moran's grand slam helped defeat the Twins on Opening Day today at PNC Park. #RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/xJuebxBCwM

— Christopher Horner (@Hornerfoto1) April 2, 2018

Welcome to Pittsburgh.

Francisco Cervelli, waiting at home plate, told Moran to smile. Jordy Mercer, on deck, coaxed him into a curtain call.

At that moment, you would have never known that the crowd of 30,186 was the smallest for a home opener in PNC Park history, the smallest since 1982.

The place was going nuts.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle called it "one of those special moments when you just kind of sit back and watch somebody else do something really fun, really significant on an opening day, a new player on a new team."

Hurdle rubbed his arms.

"I had goose bumps for him," he said. "I don't get those very often anymore, but I got goose bumps to hear our home crowd embrace him like that and ask him to come back out for a curtain call. That's never not good."

Moran is the third Pirate to hit a grand slam in the home opener, joining Ralph Kiner (1949) and Roberto Clemente ('62).

Before he became known as Grand Slam Moran — the kind of nickname you have to do to earn — the 25-year-old third baseman acquired from the Astros in the Gerrit Cole trade was hitting .111 (1 for 9) through three games and .206 in his MLB career.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Moran projected left-handed power but hadn't hit a homer all through spring training.

"He's done it before," Hurdle said. "He pulled some balls, got some air under some balls in spring training. He just didn't hit a homer. I'm not going to overcook it. He's a guy that's got some leverage in his swing that can hit some home runs. We feel it will play out here."

After Gregory Polanco's RBI double gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead, Starling Marte and Cervelli drew walks to load the bases with two outs to set the table for Moran.

"That didn't really cross my mind at all, trying to hit a grand slam there," Moran said. "Usually, when you do that, it doesn't work out too well. I was just trying to focus in on a good pitch to hit and get some runs on the board."

After working Twins starter Lance Lynn to a 3-0 count, Moran took two strikes for a full count. Then Lynn delivered a letter-high fastball that Moran drove 405 feet over the 21-foot Clemente Wall in right field for his second career home run, his first as a Pirate. Where Lynn put his hands on his hips, catcher Jason Castro leaned left and almost fell over.

You would have thought it was business as usual for Moran, who speaks softly and shows little emotion.

In the 1st AB of his PNC Park debut, Colin Moran launches a grand slam. No. 8 on @Pirates Top 30 Prospects list: https://t.co/ApnAp224p8 pic.twitter.com/IvMNJ2m6ye

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 2, 2018

Colin 'Grand Slam' Moran. pic.twitter.com/h25Pov5LHK

— Pirates (@Pirates) April 2, 2018

"You'll never know if he gets 10 hits in a row or goes 0-for-10," Mercer said. "A lot of us in here can learn from that, so it's good to be able to have him have a lot of fun and enjoy the moment."

If there has been a better home-debut hit in Pirates history, I'm too young to remember it.

"I thought it was the coolest thing I've ever experienced on a baseball field," said Moran, who went 1 for 3 and turned a double play. "To do that was fun. That was pretty exciting. It was a cool feeling to be in that moment, and have that reaction from everybody is special."

For Mercer, who had a front-row view, it was nothing short of awesome. He signaled to Moran to come out of the dugout for the curtain call, not wanting the celebration to end.

"I didn't even want to hit. I wanted him to enjoy the moment as much as he could, just because he's such a low-key guy and he's new," Mercer said. "I can't imagine being on a new team in a new environment on opening day in a new place and to do something like that.

"To be able to do that, to take a deep breath, smile a little bit and take a curtain call, how cool is that, man? I wanted him to enjoy it as much as he could, so that's why I took a step back and let him take it all in."

The Pirates didn't score another run, so Moran remained the hero of his first home opener, something he can always smile about.

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.