Twins Walk Off Cardinals Behind Kreidler’s Clutch Eighth-Inning Double

Sunday at Target Field belonged to the Minnesota Twins, who refused to fold when the St. Louis Cardinals threatened to steal the day. In a tightly contested affair that featured plenty of offensive fireworks and some genuinely clutch at-bats, Minnesota scraped together a 5-4 victory that felt earned rather than handed over. This was baseball that mattered, the kind of game that separates teams with mettle from those that wilt when the heat intensifies.

Cardinals Build Lead, Then Collapse in Seventh

St. Louis struck first blood in the fourth when Alec Burleson launched a solo shot to right field. But the real damage came in the sixth, when JJ Wetherholt hammered a two-run bomb off the same corner, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 advantage and what looked like a commanding position. Wetherholt was nothing short of dominant at the plate, finishing 2-for-5 with three RBIs and proving himself the Cardinals’ most dangerous hitter on the day.

Then Wetherholt struck again in the seventh with an RBI single that pushed Jose Fermin across and extended the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2. St. Louis appeared positioned to steal this one, but baseball is a cruel game played across nine innings, not seven. George Soriano‘s pitching implosion, surrendering three hits and a run in just 1.2 innings of work, would ultimately prove the difference. Sometimes the relief arm simply fails you.

Twins’ Seventh-Inning Rally Sets Stage for Drama

Minnesota wasn’t ready to concede. Byron Buxton‘s RBI single in the seventh cut it to 4-3, and then Royce Lewis delivered the game-tying blow with his own line drive single that scored Kreidler. Suddenly the Cardinals’ comfortable cushion evaporated, replaced by the sickening reality that they’d let this one slip away. Victor Caratini had started the comeback with an early two-run homer in the fourth, but Minnesota’s real offense came when it counted most: in crunch time, when pressure builds and lesser teams fold.

The eighth inning belonged entirely to Minnesota. With the game hanging in the balance and everything on the line, Ryan Kreidler stepped into the box and didn’t hesitate. The sharp fly ball that landed in center field brought Luke Keaschall racing home, and just like that, the Twins held a 5-4 advantage. Kreidler’s double proved to be the decisive blow, the kind of clutch hit that defines seasons and builds confidence in clubhouses.

Andrew Morris earned the win despite throwing just one inning, and Yoendrys Gomez closed it out for the save. These were circumstantial victories in terms of pitching credit, but Minnesota’s bullpen held when it mattered. The Cardinals’ collapse down the stretch stands as a reminder that four runs isn’t always enough when you lose the ability to execute down the final stretch.

St. Louis leaves Minnesota empty-handed on a Sunday that could have belonged to them. Instead, they’ll spend the flight home wondering how they let this one slip away. The Twins, meanwhile, head into their next contest with the kind of momentum that walk-off victories provide. Sometimes the better team wins. Sometimes the team that executes in crucial moments does. On Sunday at Target Field, they turned out to be the same thing.