The Saints didn’t need a barrage to get back on track at CHS Field. They needed one loud inning.
St. Paul broke open a tight game with three solo homers in the fifth and rode that burst to a 3-1 win over Louisville in the first game back after the midsummer break. The night had the feel of a pitching duel for most of it, but the long ball decided everything.
Jack Anderson set the tone for St. Paul, matching Louisville starter Jose Franco through four low-scoring innings before the game flipped in the fifth. Cody Morissette got it started with his seventh homer of the season, a shot to right that cleared the stadium and bounced into the Frogtown night.
Two batters later, Noah Cardenas added his own seventh homer of the summer to make it 2-0. Then Walker Jenkins, the Twins’ top prospect, joined the party with his fourth homer of the campaign, also to right, and just like that the Saints had all the offense they would need.
St. Paul had a chance to bury the game in the sixth after loading the bases with nobody out, but the inning stalled there. Three straight Saints went down swinging, leaving the score at 3-0.
Louisville finally cracked the shutout in the seventh when Michael Chavis homered, but that was the extent of the Bats’ damage. They finished with five hits and one run.
Cole Sands picked up the win with two innings of relief, allowing one hit while striking out three after taking over for Anderson in the fourth. Cody Laweryson finished it off for the save with a clean final four outs of the game.
Cardenas was the only Saint with multiple hits, finishing 2 for 4 as St. Paul totaled seven hits.
The two teams meet again with a 4:37 p.m. start. The Saints will send Ryan Gallagher (2-4, 7.44 ERA) to the mound against Louisville’s Jose Acuna (1-0, 5.40 ERA).
In Other News...
Byron Buxton's Return Forces Twins Into A Telling Roster Decision
Byron Buxton is back on the active roster, and for a Twins club trying to keep itself in the postseason picture, the timing could hardly be better. Minnesota reinstated its center fielder from the 10-day injured list and sent infielder Tristan Gray to Triple-A St. Paul, a straightforward transaction on paper that still says plenty about where the team stands as it tries to stay in the race.
Buxton had been sidelined with a right hip strain, and his return gives the Twins the kind of impact presence they have missed in the middle of a stretch that has little margin for error. With the club still chasing ground in both the division and the Wild Card hunt, every healthy regular matters, and Buxtons activation at least gives Minnesota a little more certainty as the trade deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Make Another Pitching Change As Roster Pressure Keeps Building
The Twins latest roster shuffle came on the heels of a rough night in Cleveland, where the opener of the series slipped away and the pitching staff once again had to absorb the fallout. Minnesota responded by lining up Kendry Rojas to start the next game, another sign that the club is still searching for the right combination as it tries to steady a rotation and a bullpen that have both been asked to do a lot.
Byron Buxton also rejoined the active roster Monday night, giving the Twins a needed boost in the middle of all the turnover. At the same time, Woo-Suk Go was sent to Triple-A after another difficult relief outing, a move that underscores how quickly roles can change when a team is under pressure and every inning seems to carry extra weight. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Trade Deadline Pressure Is Starting To Feel Very Real
The Twins are heading toward the Aug. 3 trade deadline with the kind of record that makes every front-office decision feel a little more fragile, even as general manager Jeremy Zoll says the club is planning to buy. Minnesota has stayed in the market for pitching help, and the need is obvious enough: the rotation has been thinned by injuries, and the organization is trying to keep itself in position for a run while the rest of the league starts to sort out its own deadline plans.
Byron Buxtons return is also part of the backdrop, with the Twins hoping to get him back during the Cleveland series, perhaps as soon as today. But the bigger question hanging over the week is whether Minnesota can stay close enough to justify acting like a buyer, because the deadline can turn quickly on a club hovering around .500 and still searching for the kind of arm that would make the rest of the summer look a lot different. [Read more 🡒]