ST. LOUIS, Mo. _ This is the formula the Twins envisioned last winter. It just took longer than expected to marinate.
Add Josh Donaldson to Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano, the plan went, and trot your way around the bases and up the standings. It worked on Tuesday, when the team's newest slugger homered on the same day as his powerful teammates for the first time, providing enough offense to carry Jose Berrios to his third straight victory, 7-3 in the first game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium.
The second game, and final game of this brief one-day series, will begin at approximately 5:35 p.m. Randy Dobnak will start for the Twins.
Donaldson, who missed all of August because of a strained calf, drilled a looping line drive into the Twins' bullpen off St. Louis starter Carlos Martinez with two teammates aboard in the third inning.
Two innings later, Cruz, back in the lineup after missing two days with a sore hip, blasted a first-pitch fastball from reliever Jake Woodford into the Cardinals' bullpen, his first home run in September and 14th of the season.
And Sano capped the Twins' scoring with a seventh-inning rocket to left off Ryan Helsley, his 10th of the season and only third with runners on base.
Minnesota Twins' Josh Donaldson (24) hits a three-run home run during the third inning in the first game of a baseball doubleheader against the St. Lo
Luis Arraez also knocked in a run for the fourth time in five starts, lining a single in the fourth inning to score Willians Astudillo.
It looked like more than enough for Berrios, who dominated the Cardinals on just two hits over five shutout innings. But the Twins' righthander opened the sixth inning with a walk, a home run by Tommy Edman, and a single, ending his day abruptly. Still, he looked sharp most of the game, and improved to 4-3 on the season, the first time he's been above .500 this season.
