Cardinals 3, Twins 2

[June 17, 2015]  ST. LOUIS -- Hours after it was learned they were being investigated by the FBI and the Justice Department, the St. Louis Cardinals tackled a less strenuous opponent to wrap up a perfect homestand.

Michael Wacha allowed three hits in 6 1/3 innings Tuesday and first baseman Mark Reynolds delivered a key hit for the third consecutive game as St. Louis toppled the Minnesota Twins 3-2 at rainy Busch Stadium.

Wacha (9-2) fanned five and walked one, throwing 60 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He came back to the mound after a 45-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning but departed with one out in the top of the seventh when rain interrupted the game again for 47 minutes.

Reynolds, whose solo homers on Saturday and Monday night were instrumental in 3-2 wins, snapped a 1-1 tie in the third inning with a two-out, two-run single to left-center field that scored second baseman Kolten Wong and third baseman Matt Carpenter.

With closer Trevor Rosenthal unavailable for a third straight game -- he complained of a tight right arm before Monday night's game -- Kevin Siegrist pitched the ninth for his third save and second in as many nights.

The Cardinals (43-21) upped their MLB-best home record to 26-7 and finished their brief homestand at 4-0, with Sunday's game against Kansas City getting rained out.

But their considerable accomplishments were overshadowed before the game by a Tuesday story in The New York Times that disclosed the team hacked into the Houston Astros' internal network to steal personnel information.

Minnesota (34-30) lost for the seventh time in eight games. Starter Kyle Gibson (4-5) worked six innings, yielding six hits and three runs with two walks and four strikeouts.

Third baseman Trevor Plouffe gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first with a two-out RBI double to left that scored second baseman Brian Dozier.

St. Louis evened the score in the second on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Randal Grichuk that plated catcher Yadier Molina.

Catcher Kurt Suzuki pulled Minnesota within a run after play resumed in the seventh with an RBI double. The Twins had two shots at tying the score in the ninth after a one-out double by shortstop Eduardo Nunez.

Suzuki flied out, and after left fielder Eddie Rosario walked, pinch-hitter Eduardo Escobar flied out to end it.

NOTES: St. Louis RHP Lance Lynn (right forearm strain) played catch Tuesday morning for the first time since going on the 15-day DL Friday. Lynn plans to join the team on its road trip this weekend in Philadelphia. ... Minnesota CF Byron Buxton became the fourth player in franchise history to triple for his first MLB hit, the last being Jorge Polanco on June 27, 2014, in Texas. ... The Twins signed LHP Alex Robinson, their fifth-round pick out of Maryland. Robinson is the first Minnesota draftee to sign.

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