Josh Donaldson, Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano all homered, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.
Jose Berrios (4-3) pitched into the sixth before being lifted to earn the win. He gave up three runs on four hits and struck out eight.
Twins catcher Willians Astudillo had two hits and scored twice.
Donaldson hit a three-run drive into the left field bullpen to give the Twin a 3-0 lead in the third. He snapped an 0-for-8 rut with his third home run this season.
Carlos Martinez (0-2), who had missed more than a month while dealing with the coronavirus, was chased in the fourth.
Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer in the sixth for St. Louis. After Paul Goldschmidt singled, Matt Wisler relieved. Goldschmidt scored on a wild pitch after a passed ball and a ground out to cut the lead to 5-3.
The two-game series between Minnesota and St. Louis was condensed to one day so the Cardinals could have one more day off before the end of the season, with a backlog of makeup games this month.
Behind second base, a large No. 20 was placed touching the grass to honor Hall of Fame outfielder Lou Brock, who died on Sunday at the age of 81. The six-time All-Star used his speed and bat to help the Cardinals win three NL pennants and two World Series championships.
Matt Wieters hit 14 foul balls during a grueling 19-pitch at-bat that finished with a deep flyout with the bases loaded during a wild rally that sent the Cardinals over the Minnesota Twins 6-4 Tuesday night for a doubleheader split.
Wieters, a switch-hitter, estimated his longest plate appearance before might have been 11 or 12 pitches. He nearly missed a grand slam earlier in the at-bat on a long foul against reliever Caleb Thielbar.
Wieters, hit by a pitch from Randy Dobnak (6-3) earlier in the inning, came up with two outs and the bases loaded against Thielbar.
Wieters quickly fell behind 0-2 before eventually working the count full. He then fouled off nine straight pitches before flying out to the warning track in center field.
Genesis Cabrera (3-1) pitched one inning in relief to earn the win. Giovanny Gallegos earned his fourth save in as many chances by pitching 1 1/3 innings although he gave up a solo homer to Cruz in the seventh.
The Cardinals optioned 21-year-old rookie OF Dylan Carlson to the alternate training site. The club activated Martinez, recalled right-handed pitcher Daniel Ponce De Leon as the 29th man and designated right-handed pitcher Ryan Meisinger for assignment. The highly touted Carlson was hitting .162 with one home run and five RBIs since his big league debut.
The Cardinals are off Wednesday. In hosting Detroit in a doubleheader Thursday. RHP Jack Flaherty ( 2-1, 2.95) will start the opener. LHP Austin Gomber (0-0, 0.64) will pitch in the second game. No starters for the Tigers have been announced.
