Cards Head to Minnesota Looking to Start New Winning Streak

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Head to Minnesota Looking to Start New Streak Against Twins
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals left New York with a series win, even if they missed the broom.

Now they head to Minnesota with another chance to keep the road trip pointed in the right direction.

St. Louis opens a three-game weekend series Friday night against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, beginning a Friday-through-Sunday set that gives the Cardinals another opportunity to build on what has become a strong stretch of baseball. The Cardinals took two of three from the Mets at Citi Field, winning the first two games in convincing fashion before falling 5-4 in Thursday’s finale.

That loss snapped the Cardinals’ six-game winning streak, but it did not erase the larger picture. St. Louis is still playing better baseball, still getting production from the young core, and still putting itself in position to matter in the National League race.

The task now is simple enough.

Do not let one missed sweep turn into a stumble.

The Cardinals enter the Minnesota series at 37-29, while the Twins come in at 31-39. On paper, St. Louis has the better record and the more encouraging recent form. On the field, the Cardinals still have to handle business against an American League club that will be trying to steady itself at home after a rough stretch.

Minnesota has been scuffling, and Thursday’s 11-0 loss to Detroit did not exactly arrive wrapped in encouragement. The Twins were taken apart by the Tigers in a game that featured six Detroit home runs, and Minnesota has now dropped 11 of its last 15 games. That makes the Twins vulnerable, but it also makes them dangerous. Teams that are tired of losing tend to play with urgency, especially when they get back home.

The Cardinals should know better than to assume anything.

Friday’s opener brings a right-handed matchup, with Kyle Leahy scheduled to start for St. Louis against Joe Ryan for Minnesota. Leahy enters at 5-3 with a 4.42 ERA, while Ryan comes in at 4-3 with a 3.07 ERA and 84 strikeouts. That is a real test for a Cardinals lineup that has been dangerous lately but cannot afford to drift into chase mode against a pitcher who can miss bats.

Ryan is the kind of starter who can make a lineup look impatient if hitters start expanding the zone. The Cardinals’ approach needs to be mature from the first inning. Make him work. Force him into the strike zone. Get traffic on the bases. Then let the middle of the order do damage.

That middle of the order continues to revolve around Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Iván Herrera and a group of young hitters who have given this season a different feel. Walker set a new career high with his 17th home run in New York, and his emergence as a consistent power threat has changed the shape of the lineup. He is no longer just a projection. He is a problem for opposing pitchers.

Burleson stayed hot in New York, extending his hitting streak and continuing to provide steady left-handed production. Herrera remains one of the better on-base pieces in the lineup, and JJ Wetherholt continues to give the Cardinals a young table-setter with polish beyond his years. When that group is creating traffic, the Cardinals look like a completely different offense.

Saturday gives St. Louis a left-on-left matchup, with Matthew Liberatore scheduled to face Connor Prielipp. Liberatore enters at 3-3 with a 4.48 ERA, while Prielipp comes in at 2-4 with a 5.15 ERA. That game has the feel of one the Cardinals should attack, but again, that depends on their approach. Target Field can play fair, but it will not hand out runs just because the visiting club has been swinging the bats well.

Sunday’s finale is scheduled to feature Michael McGreevy against Taj Bradley. McGreevy enters at 3-5 with a 2.99 ERA, and he remains one of the more interesting starters on this staff because of how he wins. He is not a radar-gun show. He is not trying to turn every at-bat into a fireworks display. He pitches. He moves the ball, changes speeds, works the edges and trusts his defense.

That kind of old-school pitching plays, especially on the road.

Bradley, at 5-3 with a 4.02 ERA, gives Minnesota another arm with enough stuff to make things uncomfortable if the Cardinals let him settle in. The Sunday matchup could become a good test of which lineup handles the strike zone better and which starter avoids the inning that gets away.

For St. Louis, the series is also about response.

The Cardinals had a chance to sweep the Mets on Thursday, but Juan Soto spoiled the day with the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning. That is baseball. Sometimes the other club has a superstar, and sometimes the superstar does superstar things. The important part is what comes next.

Good teams do not let a narrow loss drag behind them like a tin can tied to the bumper.

They move on.

That is where the Cardinals are now. They already won the series in New York. They already showed the offense can travel. They already got quality starts from Dustin May and Andre Pallante. They already saw Walker, Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Jimmy Crooks provide power. Now they have to reset and open another series with the same edge.

The Twins are not a club to overlook. Byron Buxton remains dangerous. Minnesota has enough power to punish mistakes, and Target Field can get loud when the Twins find early momentum. The Cardinals’ pitchers cannot give away free passes ahead of Minnesota’s impact bats, and the defense has to stay clean behind a rotation that will be asked to cover innings after a busy road stretch.

But this is also the kind of series St. Louis needs to win if it wants to keep strengthening its case as a legitimate National League contender.

Not every series is glamorous. Not every opponent arrives with headline heat. But these are the games that shape a season. Win series against teams below you in the standings. Avoid the letdown after an emotional stretch. Stack wins before the schedule turns again.

The Cardinals have spent the past few weeks showing there is more here than a rebuilding club waiting on tomorrow.

Minnesota gives them the next chance to prove it.

Series Info

Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals at Minnesota Twins
Dates: Friday, June 12 through Sunday, June 14, 2026
Venue: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Records Entering Series: Cardinals 37-29; Twins 31-39

Friday, June 12
First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. CT
Probable Pitchers: RHP Kyle Leahy vs. RHP Joe Ryan
TV: Cardinals.TV / Twins.TV / KMOV-4

Saturday, June 13
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. CT
Probable Pitchers: LHP Matthew Liberatore vs. LHP Connor Prielipp
TV: Cardinals.TV / Twins.TV

Sunday, June 14
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. CT
Probable Pitchers: RHP Michael McGreevy vs. RHP Taj Bradley
TV: Cardinals.TV / Twins.TV

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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