'Battling our tails off,' Cards split twin bill

ST. LOUIS -- With now 23 games and 19 days left in the regular season, the Cardinals want as many wins as they can get crammed in a short period of time.

They'll take them any way they can get them.

A five-run, two-hit third inning led to a 6-4 win over the Twins in the second game of Tuesday's seven-inning doubleheader at Busch Stadium, which gave the Cardinals a twin bill split and avoided the season series sweep by the reigning American League Central champions.

• Box score

"We'll take the two hits and everything that came around it," manager Mike Shildt said. "We talk about making guys work and keeping guys in the zone. We did that."

The bottom of the third inning started with Matt Carpenter's single off Minnesota starter Randy Dobnak, who just missed it flying over his head. Matt Wieters was hit by a pitch, Harrison Bader walked and Carpenter scored when Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch. The Twins challenged the play, but the call stood to extend the inning.

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"Carp put a good swing on a ball and just missed the pitcher, and I think that kind of pushed him out of the zone for a little while," Wieters said. "We were able to get some guys on base and timely runs scored without the big hit, which is huge."

Paul DeJong walked to force in the second run. Brad Miller grounded into a fielder's choice, but Bader's speed made him easily safe at home for the third run. Rangel Ravelo singled in a run. It was the Cardinals' second and final hit in the inning.

But the line kept moving. The Cardinals made Dobnak and reliever Caleb Thielbar throw 54 pitches to get three outs.

"It kind of was a symbolization of what our offense has been like this year," Edman said. "Just consistent at-bats throughout, always fighting for a way to get on base. That's been one of our strengths. We always find a way to get on base."

The Cardinals batted around, and Carpenter walked in the final run during his second plate appearance of the inning. His second walk of the game in the fifth inning was his 660th career walk, tying him for seventh all-time with Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby.

Wieters ended the inning with an epic 19-pitch battle against Thielbar. With the bases loaded, Wieters flew out to deep center field. He was the eighth St. Louis batter in a row to have a plate appearance with the bases loaded.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to have eight or more consecutive plate appearances in a game/inning with the bases loaded was the Florida Marlins on June 1, 2009, against Milwaukee (eight straight in the sixth inning).

"It speaks to what we've been doing for awhile now -- grinding out at-bats, taking tough at-bats, battling our tails off," Shildt said. "Those guys did it today for sure. That was a grind out win in that second game. Punch right back, you're down 2-0 in that second game and you come back with a five-spot."

The big inning picked up starter Daniel Ponce de Leon, who allowed two runs (on a home run) in three innings. Ponce de Leon was around the plate and threw quality strikes -- 43 of his 63 pitches were strikes -- showing the Cardinals what they wanted to see after they optioned him following his last start on Aug. 28.

Ponce de Leon will likely have another chance to start with the Cardinals' dense stretch as they race toward October. Three doubleheaders will greet them next week.

"Every opportunity," Ponce de Leon. "Today I showed -- I walked one guy, and it was kind of intentional. My fastball was there, throwing strikes with it. Offpseed was spinning a bit off, but I've got some adjustments I can focus on. Otherwise, the ball was coming out good."