Twins hit three late home runs to rally past Cardinals, 9-8

MINNEAPOLIS - The Twins could use as much pitching help they can get.

That made general manager Jeremy Zoll's injury update before Friday's game appointment listening.

Mick Abel? Trending well. Could make another rehabilitation start next week.

David Festa, Bailey Ober and Cole Sands, however, aren't close. And Sands had a second magnetic resonance imaging exam on his forearm Friday.

Help can't arrive soon enough, as there's madness on the mound.

But the Twins hitters on Friday took matters into their own hands. They belted four home runs, including three dramatic ones late, in a 9-8 comeback victory over the St. Louis Cardinals to open a three-game series at Target Field.

The Twins trailed 3-1, took a 4-3 lead in the sixth and fell behind 7-4 in the seventh when St. Louis scored four runs with two out. But the game was far from over.

Kody Clemens hit a two-out, three-run homer off Ryne Stanek to tie the score in the bottom of the inning. St. Louis reclaimed the lead in the top of the eighth when, with runners on the corners, Twins shortstop Tristian Gray made a fine stop of a grounder to his left but couldn't get the ball out of his glove to start a potential inning-ending double play.

But Royce Lewis led off the eighth with a blast into the second deck in left off Stanek. Lewis knew the ball was gone at contact, as he watched the ball take flight for a beat before looking and shouting into his dugout.

Two batters later, Brooks Lee had a similar reaction when his drive to right, again off Stanek, cleared the wall. A turn toward the dugout, a yell then a home run trot.

Now, could someone close this game? Yes. Rookie right-hander Andrew Morris pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end the wild one. Anthony Banda got the victory in relief in front of an announced crowd of 23,089.

Joe Ryan is not included in the Twins' pitching woes, although the right-hander had the Twins trailing 3-1 after two arduous innings. The 2025 All-Star threw 48 pitches over the first two innings, fought back to last six innings and was rewarded with a lead.

The Twins were down 3-2 in the sixth when Josh Bell delivered an RBI double and Lewis, who finished 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs, followed with a sacrifice fly. The Twins led 4-3.

But once Ryan left, the Twins bullpen couldn't protect the lead. Taylor Rogers entered in the seventh and sandwiched two walks around two strikeouts. Eric Orze replaced him, walked in a batter and gave up a bases-clearing, three-run double to Jordan Walker. It delighted the Cardinals fans in the stands as St. Louis took a 7-4 lead.

Byron Buxton also homered, his 21st of the season, to tie the score at 1-1 in the first inning.

Their heroics bailed out a pitching staff that is in desperate need of length from the rotation and reliability in the bullpen. Here's Zoll's update:

- Abel (right elbow inflammation) felt good after tossing three scoreless innings for the Saints on Wednesday during a 12-1 victory over Justin Verlander and Toledo. A bullpen session is scheduled for Saturday, then the Twins will decide when his next start will be.

"He was really encouraged. We were encouraged," Zoll said. "Went about as well as we could have hoped. And, looking forward to, you know, getting through these next few steps here."

Abel gave up two hits over three innings with five strikeouts during his outing against Toledo. Ho well he feels following his bullpen on Saturday will determine when his rehab outing will take place.

- Festa (right shoulder impingement) is still doing long-toss drills and is about 10 days away from having a bullpen session.

- Ober (right elbow inflammation) has played catch the last couple of days and is about a week away from getting back on a mound and throwing a bullpen.

- Sands (right forearm strain), who really could be used in the bullpen right now, had a second MRI on Thursday. Dr. Chris Camp, the Twins director of medical high performance, was scheduled to examine the results Friday. A second MRI was ordered after Sands didn't like the way his elbow responded after a June 2 rehab outing for the Saints.

- Left-hander Kendrys Rojas (left elbow inflammation) will throw live batting practice Saturday. If that goes well, a rehab assignment would be the next step.

- Catcher Ryan Jeffers (left wrist surgery) hasn't been cleared to start hitting yet but is doing well post-surgery. So far, he's throwing, running and dry swinging.

- Outfielder Alan Roden (shoulder) has been progressing while rehabbing with Class A Fort Myers and is a few days away from the club determining his next steps.

- Outfielder Walker Jenkins (shoulder) will be the designated hitter for Fort Myers on Saturday and playing in the outfield on Sunday. "We'll build up his number of innings that he's in the field over this next stretch," Zoll said. "And see how he's progressing to determine an exact timeline."

- As for outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez (left thumb surgery): "No significant updates," Zoll said. Rodriguez will be examined on June 23 to see if he can be cleared for some strengthening exercises.

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