MINNEAPOLIS -- It’s likely that there will always be well-deserved affection throughout Twins Territory for both pitchers who opposed each other from the mound in Saturday’s matchup -- because Pablo López and Sonny Gray will always be the ironclad top of the rotation that brought this state a playoff series win to end almost two decades of record-setting postseason disappointment.

But only one of them remains in a Twins uniform -- and Saturday’s showdown between the old teammates who pushed each other to greater heights last season proved triumphant for the man the Twins will still count on moving forward.

López looked about as dominant as he has all season as he pounded the strike zone against the Cardinals for seven scoreless innings while Trevor Larnach also got the best of Gray, crushing a pair of cutters for two homers and four RBIs to together lead the Twins to a 6-0 victory at Target Field.

“I have nothing but the utmost respect for Pablo,” Gray said. “I thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed working with him last year. We both brought so much out of each other, I would say. Having another guy like him on the staff that was as dominant, it made me better. I’d like to hope that I was able to help him and make him better.”

Larnach took advantage of a more homer-prone season from Gray for the first multi-homer game of his career. His three-run, 384-foot blast amid a stretch of five consecutive Twins to reach base in the third inning provided the thump for the four-run frame, and he later added a 419-foot blast to straightaway center in the fifth.