MINNEAPOLIS -- The Cardinals used the long ball to break a 4-4 tie and defeated the Twins, 9-6, at Target Field on Saturday afternoon.
St. Louis went to work on Minnesota reliever Justin Lawrence in the seventh inning to take the lead. At first, he had his way by striking out Nathan Church and Masyn Winn to start the frame. But the Cardinals made adjustments on Lawrence and turned things around.
Iván Herrera hit a solo shot over the left-field wall, his second homer of the game, to give the Cardinals the one-run lead.
“Hitting is one of the hardest things to do in sports. It's about making adjustments,” Herrera said. “It was the best swing I felt. It felt clean, smooth and that’s when I did my best.”
Jordan Walker followed and proved once again that no stadium is too big for him, hammering a monster shot into the facing of the third deck in left field to give St. Louis a two-run lead. The ball went into the seats at 116.6 mph and traveled 454 feet. That’s the Cardinals’ second hardest-hit home run in the Statcast era (since 2015) and the second hardest-hit home run in the Major Leagues this season.
“I want something I can drive,” Walker said. “Lawrence is really good, so you gotta really pick one pitch, one location. When you get it, you can’t miss it because he has really good stuff.”
Lawrence acknowledged that he was “mentally scrambled” after allowing the Herrera home run.
“You know, you get the two quick [outs], two good ones, and then they take the lead on one swing,” Lawrence said. “Then I fell behind Walker, who’s another great hitter. You just can’t do that, especially that part of the lineup and a team of that caliber. Unfortunately, it really just snowballed on me and got out of hand.”
It would get worse.
After Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson reached base on singles to put runners on first and third, Lawrence was taken out of the game in favor of Travis Adams, who allowed a three-run homer to Blaze Jordan, his first in the Majors. With the count at 3-1, Jordan jumped on a fastball and put into the left-center-field seats. He was able to get the ball back from Cardinals fans in attendance and will give it to his parents. In return, the fans received signed balls and a bat.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Jordan said. “We are so deep – one through nine. It’s a bunch of young guys that are hungry to win. We are playing for each other right now. I think that’s what relaxes your mind when you are trying to go up there and deal with what the team needs at that point. We are trying to simplify it in that way.”
The Cardinals’ bullpen narrowly avoided the late collapse it experienced Friday. Matt Svanson, Ryne Stanek, Chris Roycroft and JoJo Romero pitched a combined 3 2/3 innings and allowed one run. Riley O'Brien came on in the ninth and immediately walked the bases loaded, but he allowed only one run while securing the win.
With Nootbaar back from injury and Jordan adding thump, the Cardinals feel their lineup can beat anybody. They have scored 17 runs in the last two games.
“It’s a great lineup. I think everybody has contributed. It’s really fun to watch,” Walker said.