Final
Twins 9, Cardinals 8
Starting pitcher performance
Joe Ryan allowed a solo home run in the first inning of work and gave up two runs in the second inning as part of a four-hit inning for the St. Louis Cardinals. But after that, the Cardinals could do little against the starter for his final four innings of work. Ryan sent down 13 of the final 14 batters he faced and wound up striking eight batters in his six-inning start.
Player of the Game
Kody Clemens, Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee had the big swings late in the game, but center fielder Byron Buxton was in the middle of everything all night.
Buxton tied the game up in the first inning, hitting a solo shot off starter Kyle Leahy. He doubled in the fourth and again in the sixth. He then walked in the seventh, scoring for the third time that night on Clemens’ home run.
Key moment
There were a number of them in the final innings of a game that became a back-and-forth battle late.
After the Twins rallied for a pair of runs to tie the game up in the sixth inning, the Cardinals took advantage of three walks from Twins relievers to push across four runs in the top of the seventh.
The Twins answered back with Luke Keaschall and Byron Buxton drawing walks before Clemens brought the game back to a tie.
St. Louis responded in the eighth, scoring a run but the Twins had a response for that, too, in the form of a mammoth blast from Lewis that landed in the second deck in left field. Lewis connected with the ball and watched it fly for a second before turning to run to first, stopping to acknowledge the Twins’ dugout along the way. Later in the inning, it was Lee’s turn, taking reliever Ryne Stanek out to right to give the Twins a 9-8 edge.
Up next
Connor Prielipp (2-4, 5.15 ERA) will start the second game of the series against the Cardinals on Saturday. He will square off against Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 4.48 ERA).
