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The Minnesota Twins know their upcoming nine-game homestand could be pivotal as they pursue a division championship in the American League Central.

The Twins also know that they remain without a couple of their impact hitters in Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton. But they are confident anyway as they open a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

“It’s awesome having depth and being able to win, even without those superstars,” Twins outfielder Matt Wallner said.

Manager Rocco Baldelli agreed: “It kind of stamps and further emphasizes the fact that we want our players back and healthy — but whoever we have, and we don’t care who we’re facing, we can go out and win games.”

The Twins will try to preserve that fact against the Cardinals, who are coming off back-to-back wins over the Milwaukee Brewers as they embark on a quick three-game road trip before returning to St. Louis to host the San Diego Padres.

The Cardinals traveled north after shutting out the Brewers 3-0 on Thursday afternoon. Nolan Arenado notched his 60th RBI of the season and Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan added one RBI apiece in the victory.

The Cardinals climbed within one game of .500 and sit 10 games behind the Brewers for first place in the NL Central. But the team is not giving up on its hopes for a postseason berth, according to manager Oli Marmol.

Marmol said the team has adopted an “every game is a playoff game” approach.

“It’s not too early for that,” Marmol said. “We understand what the runway looks like and what’s ahead of us. But the only thing we can do is focus on the very next pitch. That’s what we’re in control of.”

The Cardinals’ next pitch is set to be thrown by right-hander Andre Pallante (5-6, 4.07 ERA), who will make his 14th start of the season. The 25-year-old is coming off a quality start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, whom he limited to two runs on four hits in seven innings on Saturday.

Pallante has made one relief appearance against the Twins in his career. He pitched a scoreless inning, and he allowed one hit and plunked one batter.

Minnesota will counter with right-hander David Festa (2-2, 4.96), who is set to make the seventh start of his rookie campaign. The 24-year-old is looking for another victory after posting no-decisions in each of his past two outings.

Festa walked none and struck out six in five innings in his most recent outing, against the Texas Rangers. He scattered six hits and threw 54 of 81 pitches for strikes.

This will be Festa’s first career appearance against the Cardinals. He is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA in four games (three starts) against interleague opponents.

This is the first time the teams have met since 2023, when the Cardinals hosted a three-game series against the Twins. Minnesota won the series 2-1, but St. Louis outscored the Twins 12-11 during the three-game set.

–Field Level Media