MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee homered in the eighth inning — two of three home runs surrendered by St. Louis reliever Ryne Stanek — and the Minnesota Twins outlasted the Cardinals 9-8 on Friday night.
Kody Clemens hit his 10th home run on the third pitch from Stanek to tie it at 7 after the right-hander entered with two on and two out in the seventh.
Stanek (2-1) returned for the eighth, and Lewis hit his fifth homer on his first pitch
to tie it at 8. Lee followed one out later with his 11th.
Anthony Banda (2-0) worked out of a one-out bases-loaded jam in the eighth to get the win. Andrew Morris pitched a perfect ninth for his second career save.
Alec Burleson homered for a fourth straight game to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the first off Joe Ryan. The 419-foot shot was his 12th of the season and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Byron Buxton hit his 21st homer — and fourth in six games — off Kyle Leahy to tie it 1-1 heading to the second. The center fielder added two doubles and walked, scoring three runs.
Blaze Jordan had an RBI single in his first big league at-bat to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the second and finished 2 for 4. He is the 11th Cardinal to single in a run his first time up. JJ Wetherholt added an RBI single and the Cardinals led 3-1 after two innings.
Lewis singled in the fifth before scoring on Tristan Gray's one-out single to cut it to 3-2, and Josh Bell doubled in a run in the fifth to tie it 3-all.
Lewis had a sacrifice fly off George Soriano to give Minnesota a 4-3 lead in the sixth.
Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to nine games when he drove in three runs with a two-out double — after a bases-loaded walk to Burleson — to give St. Louis a 7-4 lead in the seventh.
Ryan struck out eight in six innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
Leahy gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings.
Cardinals LHP Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 4.48) starts Saturday opposite Twins LHP Connor Prielipp (2-4, 5.15).
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