Kennys Vargas atoned for hitting into a rally-killing double play in the seventh inning when his walk-off solo home run sent the Twins to a 2-1 victory over St. Louis and a split in the home-and-home series with the Cardinals.
Both Twins starter Mike Pelfrey and Cardinals starter Jamie Garcia dueled through six scoreless innings to start the game, but neither factored in the decision.
Pelfrey held the Cardinals to one run on four hits in eight innings. Garcia tossed six scoreless as neither team was able to get much going early.
Mike Pelfrey and Jaime Garcia locked in a nice little pitcher's duel here. The best kind of baseball.
— Derek Wetmore (@DerekWetmore) June 18, 2015
Then in the seventh, with the game still scoreless, Jason Heyward hit a solo home run off of Pelfrey to put the Cardinals on the scoreboard.
The Twins loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, but Vargas grounded into an inning-ending double play to squander Minnesota’s best scoring opportunity of the day.
Finally, it was Joe Mauer’s solo home run in the eighth that put the Twins on the scoreboard and sent the game into the ninth inning tied at 1.
#TwinsRadio Joe Mauer Post Game Interview https://t.co/0atT7Ahmcn on #SoundCloud
— TwinsRadio (@TwinsRadio) June 18, 2015
After Blaine Boyer (2-2) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth – earning the win in the process – Vargas ended it in the bottom of the inning.
The Twins start a weekend series with the Chicago Cubs on Friday night. Phil Hughes takes the mound against Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks.
