ST. LOUIS – As the Twins looked for ways to end their five-game losing streak, the Cardinals seemed intent on helping them.
The Cardinals gifted the Twins a run through a fielding error, then cost themselves with their own baserunning mistakes. Donovan Solano delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single in the seventh inning to lift the Twins to a 3-2 victory at Busch Stadium on Tuesday.
The Twins totaled only three hits in their first six innings against Cardinals righthander Miles Mikolas before producing three in the seventh, including back-to-back hits from Jorge Polanco and Matt Wallner. Solano, batting for Joey Gallo, followed two batters later and lined the first pitch he saw up the middle.
That was enough run support for Twins starter Pablo López, who permitted four hits and one run in six innings.
The Twins didn’t have a runner reach second base against Mikolas until Ryan Jeffers lined a one-out double to the wall in left-center field in the fifth inning. Mikolas was set to pitch around it, but he couldn’t prevent an error behind him.
Michael A. Taylor, with two outs, hit a ground ball to shortstop Tommy Edman. A throw from the hole between shortstop and third base combined with Taylor’s speed forced a high lob from Edman that took first baseman Paul Goldschmidt off the bag. Taylor was safe, Jeffers scored and the Twins had their first lead in a game since Friday.
One error gave the Twins a run, and another baserunning error probably cost the Cardinals one of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jordan Walker broke his bat on a swing, which turned into a slow roller to third baseman Jorge Polanco, who is playing the position regularly for the first time since 2016.
Polanco whipped his throw up the first-base line and past outstretched first baseman Joey Gallo. As the ball rolled into foul territory in shallow right field, Walker sprinted to third base. It was the first time the Cardinals had a runner on third base against López, but it didn’t even last a pitch.
The Twins appealed whether Walker touched first base, and Walker, who stepped over the first-base bag, was ruled out on the bizarre play after the umpiring crew conferred for about 30 seconds. Walker’s baserunning miscue wiped away Polanco’s three-base error.
Polanco should have been charged with an error in the third inning, misplaying a two-hop ground ball from Taylor Motter that bounced in front of him and deflected off his glove. Motter didn’t advance past second base after López induced groundouts against the next two batters.
The Cardinals finally broke through against López in the sixth inning, but even that came at the expense of another baserunning blunder. Two singles put two runners on base with one out. After López struck out Goldschmidt, the reigning National League MVP, Nolan Arenado lined a single to left field.
As Motter crossed the plate, tying the game, Lars Nootbaar was tossed out at third base after Polanco cut off a laser throw toward the plate from Matt Wallner. All season for the last-place Cardinals, they’ve found ways to turn their positives into negatives.
Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who lasted through the trade deadline, hit a solo homer off Jhoan Duran with one out in the ninth inning. Duran has yielded at least one earned run in five of his last 10 appearances.
Following the homer, Duran struck out the next two batters to earn his 18th save.