Minnesota @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 15, 2015 ) Minnesota 2, St. Louis 3

The St. Louis Cardinals have been a juggernaut at home, the biggest reason why they own the best record in the majors and a six-game lead atop the National League Central. The Cardinals take aim at their fifth consecutive victory overall and sixth in a row at Busch Stadium when they face the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday in the second contest of a four-game, home-and-home interleague series.

Yadier Molina snapped a homer drought dating to June of last year as part of a three-hit performance in the series opener, giving him seven hits in his last 16 at-bats. Mark Reynolds has homered in back-to-back games after failing to go deep over his previous 19 contests to help St. Louis improve to 42-21 overall and 25-7 at home. Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton, the much-ballyhooed prospect who made his major-league debut Sunday, collected his first hit with a triple in Monday's 3-2 setback. Losers of six of seven, the Twins send Kyle Gibson to the mound to oppose eight-game winner Michael Wacha on Tuesday.

TV: 1:45 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Kyle Gibson (4-4, 3.24 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (8-2, 2.45)

After churning out a string of solid outings, Gibson has leveled off in his last two starts, giving up a total of 10 runs and surrendering four homers against Kansas City and Milwaukee. Prior to the rocky patch, Gibson had allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven straight turns - including five with fewer than two earned runs. He has yielded only four earned runs over 22 frames in his last three starts on the road.

Since opening the year by winning his first seven decisions, Wacha has lost two of his last three outings despite registering a season-high 10 strikeouts in a 10-4 defeat at Colorado last Tuesday. Wacha, who has made six of his last seven starts on the road, has allowed four runs in each of his losses and surrendered a costly homer in both. He has been particularly tough on left-handed batters, holding them to a .199 average.

WALK-OFFS

1. Twins 2B Brian Dozier is riding four-game hitting and RBI streaks.

2. St. Louis, which is 14-1 when Reynolds records an RBI, will make up Sunday's postponement against Kansas City on July 23.

3. Twins OF Shane Robinson had a pinch-hit single versus his former team Monday and is 5-for-9 over his last three games.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Twins 2