Minnesota Twins Game Day Preview Saturday July 31, 2021 at St. Louis Cardinals (Associated Press)
Minnesota Twins (43-61, fifth in the AL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (52-51, third in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Bailey Ober (1-1, 5.19 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 45 strikeouts) Cardinals: Jake Woodford (2-2, 4.25 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis and Minnesota will square off on Saturday.
The Cardinals are 29-20 in home games in 2020. St. Louis hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .300 this season, led by Paul Goldschmidt with a mark of .344.
The Twins are 19-31 on the road. Minnesota has a collective on-base percentage of .315, led by Josh Donaldson with a mark of .355.
The Cardinals won the last meeting 5-1. Ryan Helsley recorded his sixth victory and Tommy Edman went 1-for-2 with a double and three RBIs for St. Louis. Tyler Duffey registered his third loss for Minnesota.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler O’Neill ranks second on the Cardinals with 17 home runs and is batting .263.
Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 37 extra base hits and is slugging .456.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .259 batting average, 4.09 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs
Twins: 3-7, .249 batting average, 5.44 ERA, outscored by 11 runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Daniel Ponce de Leon: (shoulder), Miles Mikolas: (forearm), Carlos Martinez: (thumb), Dakota Hudson: (elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (oblique), Max Moroff: (shoulder), Nolan Arenado: (forearm).
Twins: Cody Stashak: (back), Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Taylor Rogers: (finger), Derek Law: (shoulder), Luke Farrell: (oblique), Randy Dobnak: (finger), Edwar Colina: (elbow), Rob Refsnyder: (hamstring), Alex Kirilloff: (wrist), Kyle Garlick: (hernia), Byron Buxton: (hand), Luis Arraez: (knee), Mitch Garver: (wrist).
