The Cardinals had two runners on with no outs in the ninth, but Minnesota closer Glen Perkins struck out Mark Reynolds and Randal Grichuk and then got Yadier Molina to ground out to end the game and save a 3-1 Twins victory, snapping the Cardinals five game win streak. Perkins is now 23 for 23 on save opportunities.
The Cardinals only run came in the second inning off starter Tommy Milone, an RBI single from Jason Heyward for a 1-0 lead.
Carlos Martinez (7-3) gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits and struck out six in 6.2 innings for the Cardinals. With runners on first and third in the fourth, Martinez fired to first on a pickoff attempt, but Reynolds couldn’t handle a low throw. Trevor Plouffe to score from third and put Eddie Rosario went all the way to third and later scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Reynolds deservedly so, was charged with an error.
Rosario tripled with two outs in the eighth off Matt Belisle and scored on a single for an insurance run.
