Sportsnaut
Alec Burleson hit a three-run homer and Lars Nootbaar hit a two-run shot as the host St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Tuesday night.
Tyler O’Neill and Jordan Walker added solo homers for the Cardinals, who won for just the fourth time in 12 games.
Matt Wallner hit a three-run homer for the Twins, who lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Dakota Hudson (2-0) made a successful return to the Cardinals rotation, allowing three runs on two hits while replacing the traded Jack Flaherty. Hudson walked three and struck out seven.
Reliever Andre Pallante worked a scoreless eighth inning and JoJo Romero closed out the ninth for the Cardinals.
Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan (9-8) allowed seven runs on nine hits, including four homers, in four innings. Ryan has allowed eight homers in his last three games.
The Cardinals broke out to a 4-0 second-inning lead. After O’Neill and Walker hit their homers, Tommy Edman reached on a single and Nootbaar hit his two-run blast.
St. Louis’ assault continued in the third inning. Nolan Arenado hit a double, Willson Contreras hit a single and Burleson blasted his three-run homer to make it 7-0.
Hudson retired the first 11 batters he faced and held the Twins hitless for 5 1/3 innings. He finally lost steam in the seventh inning when he walked Max Kepler and hit Kyle Farmer with a pitch.
Wallner followed with his three-run homer to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 7-3.
In the bottom of the inning, Contreras hit a single, stole second base and moved to third on a throwing error. But Josh Winder struck out O’Neill to end the inning and strand Contreras.
The Twins threatened in the eighth inning when Joey Gallo hit a leadoff single and Pallante hit Willi Castro with a one-out pitch. Pallante escaped the inning when Edouard Julien grounded into a double play.
–Field Level Media
