Huge pinch hit, bizarre play on bases boost Twins past Cardinals
ST. LOUIS – As the Twins looked for ways to end their five-game losing streak, the Cardinals seemed intent on helping them.
The Cardinals gifted the Twins a run through a fielding error, then cost themselves with their own baserunning mistakes. Donovan Solano delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single in the seventh inning to lift the Twins to a 3-2 victory at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, a few hours after the trade deadline passed.
"No matter what we say, when it is the trade deadline, it's a different type of day for everyone here," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after the front office opted to stand pat. "I'm not stressing out on this day, but players might. Once it's over, you could settle in and play baseball. We have our group."
Combined with Cleveland losing to Houston on a no-hitter, the Twins now lead the American League Central by two games.
In the first game following the trade deadline, the Twins totaled three hits in their first six innings against Cardinals righthander Miles Mikolas before producing three in the seventh. Solano, batting for Joey Gallo, came to the plate with two runners on base and one out, and he grounded the first pitch he saw up the middle.
The main reason Baldelli turned to Solano, instead of giving Gallo a third at-bat against Mikolas, was how badly the Twins needed a ball in play.
"It's my talent," said Solano, who has seven hits in 24 at-bats as a pinch hitter this year with five strikeouts. "I'm no power hitter, so that's why [Baldelli] made the change with Gallo. Gallo is a power hitter. I tried to do my job. Be me and try to be short in my swing."
The Twins didn't have a runner reach second base against Mikolas until Ryan Jeffers lined a one-out double to the wall in left-center field in the fifth inning. Mikolas was set to pitch around it, but he couldn't prevent an error behind him.
Michael A. Taylor, with two outs, hit a ground ball to shortstop Tommy Edman. A throw from the hole between shortstop and third base combined with Taylor's speed forced a high lob from Edman that took first baseman Paul Goldschmidt off the bag. Taylor was safe, Jeffers scored and the Twins had their first lead in a game since Friday.
A half-inning after an error gave the Twins their first run, a baserunning mistake probably cost the Cardinals one of their own. Jordan Walker broke his bat on a swing, which turned into a slow roller to third baseman Jorge Polanco, who is playing the position regularly for the first time since 2016.
Polanco whipped his throw up the first-base line and past outstretched first baseman Gallo. As the ball rolled into foul territory in shallow right field, Walker sprinted to third base. It was the first time the Cardinals had a runner on third base against López, but it didn't even last a pitch. The Twins appealed whether Walker touched first base, and the Cardinals rookie was ruled out on the bizarre play, wiping away a three-base error.
"I was just so confused," said López, who credited the video replay team for catching it. "I didn't know what we were appealing."
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López gave up four hits and one run across six innings. Joe Ryan said before the game he thought López was a perfect candidate to start Tuesday because he didn't have to worry about trade deadline rumors.
"Pablo doesn't get riled up," Baldelli said.
The Cardinals finally broke through against López in the sixth inning, but even that came at the expense of another out on the bases. With two runners on base and two outs, Nolan Arenado lined a single to Wallner in left field.
Wallner fired a rocket back to the infield, measured at 100 miles per hour, and Taylor Motter was in jeopardy of being thrown out at the plate. Instead, Polanco cut off the throw and tossed out Lars Nootbaar, who was trying to advance to third base.
"We're a first-place team for a reason," López said. "We also know that we haven't unlocked our entire potential. We are striving for that."
