St. Louis @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 17, 2015 ) St. Louis 1, Minnesota 3

The St. Louis Cardinals are reeling as an organization after it was revealed the FBI is investigating hacking allegations and also look to bounce back from an on-field loss when they finish a string of four games against the host Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon. Prior to his team's 3-1 loss to the Twins on Wednesday, St. Louis chairman Bill DeWitt and general manager John Mozeliak both vehemently denied knowledge that databases belonging to Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow had been hacked by club employees.

Luhnow formerly worked for St. Louis, and DeWitt and Mozeliak confirmed in a statement that the Cardinals are conducting an internal investigation. "We are committed to finding out what happened," Mozeliak said. "To the extent we can substantiate that these allegations have merit, we will take appropriate action against anyone involved." Minnesota lost two games in St. Louis before the scene shifted to Target Field, where Eduardo Nunez recorded two hits and two RBIs in Wednesday's victory. The Twins won for just the second time in nine contests while the Cardinals had their five-game winning streak snapped.

TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLBN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals LH Jaime Garcia (2-3, 2.06 ERA) vs. Twins RH Mike Pelfrey (5-3, 3.18)

Garcia was superb in his last outing, when he blanked Kansas City on four hits over eight innings. The victory snapped a two-start losing streak and marked the fourth consecutive start in which he didn't walk a batter after issuing five in his season debut on May 21. Garcia is holding opposing batters to a .213 average and has a 0.89 WHIP.

Pelfrey was hammered in his last start as he gave up eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings of a loss to Texas. He had allowed a total of only three runs over his previous four turns prior to the rough outing. Pelfrey is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against St. Louis.

WALK-OFFS

1. Twins LHP Glen Perkins converted his 23rd consecutive save opportunity on Wednesday by recording the final four outs.

2. St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong is 1-for-12 in the series and 4-for-27 over his last seven games.

3. Minnesota CF Byron Buxton went 0-for-3 in his home debut and is 2-for-13 in his first four major-league games.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 5, Twins 2