Cardinals Let Late Leads Slip Away in Wild Loss at Minnesota

Cardinals Let Late Leads Slip Away in Wild Loss at Minnesota
The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals had this one. Then they had it again.

And somehow, by the end of a chaotic Friday night at Target Field, they did not have it at all. Twins 9, Cardinals 8.

The Minnesota Twins defeated the Cardinals 9-8 in the opener of a three-game interleague series, using three late home runs to erase two St. Louis leads and hand the Cardinals one of their more frustrating losses of the season.

This was not a quiet loss. It was not one of those nights where the offense went missing and the club simply tipped its cap. The Cardinals scored eight runs, collected 12 hits, got a first-inning home run from Alec Burleson, a three-run double from Jordan Walker, and a two-hit debut from Blaze Jordan.

That should have been enough.

It was not.

The Cardinals jumped ahead early when Burleson launched a solo home run in the first inning, continuing what has become one of the better offensive stretches of his season. Minnesota answered immediately, with Byron Buxton homering in the bottom half to tie the game.

St. Louis came right back in the second. Blaze Jordan, making his much-anticipated debut, delivered an RBI single to center to score Lars Nootbaar and give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. JJ Wetherholt followed with a single to right, and Masyn Winn scored on the play after a Minnesota error helped extend the inning. Just like that, the Cardinals had a 3-1 lead and had forced the Twins to chase the game.

For a while, that looked like it might hold up.

Kyle Leahy was not dominant, but he gave the Cardinals five innings and kept the game from getting away. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits, struck out five, and walked one. It was not a shutdown start, but it was enough to keep the Cardinals in position to win.

Minnesota chipped away. Royce Lewis scored on an infield single in the fifth, then Josh Bell tied the game with a run-scoring double in the sixth. Lewis followed with a sacrifice fly, and the Twins had their first lead of the night at 4-3.

That set the stage for what should have been the Cardinals’ defining inning.

In the seventh, St. Louis loaded the bases and Burleson drew a walk to tie the game. Then Jordan Walker stepped in and delivered the swing that looked like it would decide the night, ripping a bases-clearing double to left field. Three runs scored, the Cardinals led 7-4, and for a moment, it felt like the club had taken control of a wild road game.

But baseball has a way of humbling a team in a hurry.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kody Clemens unloaded a three-run homer to right, tying the game at 7-7 and wiping away the Cardinals’ biggest swing of the night almost as quickly as it arrived.

St. Louis still answered. In the eighth, Bryan Torres scored on a José Fermín infield single, giving the Cardinals an 8-7 lead. Once again, they were three defensive outs away from escaping Minnesota with a hard-fought win.

Instead, the Twins struck again.

Royce Lewis led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run to left, tying the game. Brooks Lee followed with another solo shot to right, and in the span of two swings, Minnesota had turned an 8-7 deficit into a 9-8 lead.

Ryne Stanek, who had been one of the Cardinals’ steadier late-inning arms for much of the season, had a night to forget. He was charged with three earned runs on three hits over 1.1 innings, and all three hits left the yard. Kody Clemens, Royce Lewis, and Brooks Lee each took him deep in the late innings, and that was the difference.

The Cardinals had one more chance in the ninth, but Andrew Morris retired St. Louis in order to close it out for Minnesota.

There were positives, and they were not small ones.

Burleson homered, walked with the bases loaded, and continued to look like one of the most dependable bats in the lineup. Walker’s three-run double was a big-time swing in a big-time spot. Blaze Jordan collected two hits and drove in a run in his debut, giving Cardinals fans a first look at the bat that has pushed its way into the big-league conversation.

But the story of the night was still the bullpen.

When a team scores eight runs on the road, takes a three-run lead in the seventh, then takes another lead in the eighth, that game needs to be closed out. There is no other way to dress it up.

The Cardinals did enough offensively to win. They did enough early to put themselves in control. They even answered after the Twins punched back.

But they could not finish it.

That is what makes this one sting.

The Cardinals led 7-4 in the seventh and 8-7 in the eighth, but Minnesota answered both times. The Twins hit three late home runs, including back-to-back solo shots from Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee in the eighth, to flip the game for good.

Walker’s bases-clearing double in the seventh gave the Cardinals a 7-4 lead and looked like the swing of the night. It was the kind of at-bat that continues to show why Walker has become such an important middle-of-the-order presence.

Blaze Jordan made his Cardinals debut and wasted little time getting involved, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. His second-inning single gave St. Louis the lead and offered a glimpse of why his bat forced the issue at Triple-A Memphis.

Alec Burleson opened the scoring with a first-inning home run and later walked with the bases loaded to tie the game in the seventh. He continues to give the Cardinals a steady, dangerous left-handed bat in the heart of the order.

Ryne Stanek had been a reliable late-inning option, but Friday was a rough one. He allowed three earned runs on three hits, with all three hits going for home runs. That turned a potential Cardinals win into a painful series-opening loss.

Bottom Line: The Cardinals scored eight runs, had 12 hits, got production from their regulars, and watched Blaze Jordan make an impressive debut and they still lost.

This was a game the Cardinals should have won, and the late innings got away from them in a hurry. That is the hard truth of Friday night.

Now they will have to flush it fast, because the series continues Saturday afternoon at Target Field with Matthew Liberatore scheduled to face Connor Prielipp.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JUNE 12: Blaze Jordan #33 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits an RBI single against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of his MLB debut at Target Field on June 12, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images