Behind eighth-inning homers, Twins outslug Cardinals

Field Level Media|published: Fri 12th June, 23:57 2026

Jun 12, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Brooks Lee (22) and first baseman Royce Lewis (23) celebrate the win over the St. Louis Cardinals after the game at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee homered in the eighth inning, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 9-8 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday in Minneapolis.

Kody Clemens belted a three-run home run for Minnesota, which won the opener of a three-game series for just its second victory in six games. Byron Buxton doubled twice and hit a solo homer.

Jordan Walker hit a three-run double and Alec Burleson homered and drove in a pair for St. Louis, which has lost two in a row immediately after a six-game winning streak.

Twins reliever Anthony Banda (2-0) got the last two outs of the eighth inning. Andrew Morris pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

Cardinals reliever Ryne Stanek (2-1) allowed three runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Jose Fermin gave the Cardinals an 8-7 lead in the top of the eighth with an RBI infield single.

The Twins quickly rallied. Lewis led off the bottom of the inning and hammered the first pitch he saw over the wall in left to make it 8-8. Two batters later, Lee pulled a towering homer to right to give Minnesota a one-run lead.

Each team got a solo homer in the first inning, from Burleson and Buxton, before the Cardinals took a 3-1 lead in the second on RBI singles from Blaze Jordan and JJ Wetherholt.

The Twins pulled within 3-2 in the fifth. Lewis hit a leadoff single to left, advanced to third on a double by Victor Caratini and scored on an infield single by Tristan Gray.

Minnesota scored two more runs in the sixth to seize a 4-3 advantage. Josh Bell hit an RBI double and Lewis added a sacrifice fly.

The back-and-forth battle continued as the Cardinals plated four runs in the seventh to take a 7-4 lead. Burleson drew a bases-loaded walk to even the score at 4-all, and Walker provided a go-ahead strike with a bases-clearing double.

The Twins rallied to even the score in the bottom of the inning. Clemens stepped to the plate with two on and two out, and he came through with a three-run homer off Stanek over the wall in right.

--Field Level Media

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