MINNEAPOLIS _ It's been a pretty lousy May for two of the Twins' youngest and most talented players. Jose Berrios had a 7.15 ERA in two starts, and Byron Buxton was 1-for-13 since recovering from a fractured toe.
But maybe June came early.
Berrios' overpowering fastball and Buxton's uncontainable speed played critical roles Tuesday as the Twins beat the Cardinals for the fifth straight meeting, 4-1 at Target Field. The Twins snapped a dreary streak of 16 scoreless innings, and two consecutive quiet losses.
Just as they had been the past couple of days by Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani and Mariners left-hander Wade LeBlanc, the Twins were mostly bottled up by Jack Flaherty, St. Louis' 22-year-old pitching phenom. Flaherty allowed just two singles and a walk through the first five innings, and even picked off one of Minnesota's rare baserunners, Ehire Adrianza, to prevent any sudden uprisings.
His mastery ran out suddenly, however, in the sixth inning. After two quick outs, Flaherty gave up a single to deep short by Brian Dozier, a line-drive single to right field by Eddie Rosario, and Eduardo Escobar's run-scoring looper into center, driving Dozier home. That unexpected uprising brought Flaherty's night to an end _ but the Twins were just getting started.
After Logan Morrison led off the seventh with a double to the right-field wall, Buxton squared around to bunt against Cardinals reliever Luke Gregerson. The pitcher raced forward to field the bunt, but Buxton raced even faster to first base, and a hurried Gregerson sailed the ball down the right-field line. Morrison scored on the error, and Buxton advanced to second base, having collected his first bunt single of the season.
The Twins' Jose Berrios had his strongest start in nearly one month, pitching 7 1/3 innings and giving up only one run on two hits Tuesday.
That wasn't the only first. Bobby Wilson, the catcher added to the roster after Jason Castro suffered a knee injury, bunted Gregerson's first pitch foul, then crushed a slider into the left-field seats, his first home run since Sept. 21, 2016, while he was with the Rays.
That was more than enough offense for the brilliant Berrios, who had battled inconsistency for a month. The Cardinals were flustered by his 96-mph fastballs and his occasional curveballs. Berrios caused the Cardinals to swing and miss at 14 pitches, to go down in order in five different innings, and to reach base a paltry three times in 67 1/3 innings.
Only in the third inning, when Harrison Bader singled, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on Carson Kelly's single, did Berrios suffered even a hiccup. But that lone run seemed like plenty, considering the Twins' recent scoring slump; before snapping their skid in the sixth, they had managed just one run in 23 innings, and three runs in 32.
Instead, the Twins added to their 2018 mastery of the Cardinals, who arrived in Minneapolis just 1 game behind Milwaukee for the NL Central lead. In three games over the past eight days, Minnesota has outscored St. Louis, 17-2.
