Sports

Minnesota Twins lose 5-3 to St. Louis Cardinals in season opener

March 27, 2025 / 8:39 PM CDT / AP

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Lars Nootbaar homered and Sonny Gray pitched five solid innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.

Nolan Arenado also went deep late in the game for the Cardinals.

Harrison Bader hit a two-run shot for Minnesota against his former team.

Nootbaar slammed a two-run drive off Pablo Lopez in the second inning to stake the Cardinals to a 4-0 lead.

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - MARCH 27: Harrison Bader #12 of the Minnesota Twins hits a two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth inning on Opening Day at Busch Stadium on March 27, 2025 in St Louis, Missouri. Joe Puetz / Getty Images

Gray allowed two runs and four hits. He struck out six and threw 49 strikes in his 77-pitch outing. Gray pitched for the Twins from 2022-23.

The Cardinals' bullpen gave up just one run over four innings. Ryan Helsley earned the save.

Bader played parts of six seasons (2017-22) with the Cardinals. He homered off Gray in the fifth to cut it to 4-2.

Arenado, who turned down a trade to Houston in the offseason, took a curtain call for the sellout crowd after his home run in the eighth pushed the lead to 5-3.