“I was like three times, four times at the hospital, like really sick,” he said, adding he now felt strong.

It was just the second start of the season, both coming against Minnesota, for Martinez. He had not pitched since July 28 when the Twins roughed him up for seven hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Minnesota made it 5-0 when Cruz led off the fifth a home run, his 14th this season. Cruz was in the lineup for the opener after sitting out a second straight day Monday with hip soreness.

Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer in the sixth for St. Louis. After Paul Goldschmidt singled, Matt Wisler relieved. Goldschmidt scored on a wild pitch after a passed ball and a ground out to cut the lead to 5-3.

The Twins got both runs back in the seventh when Sanó, who was not in the lineup Monday with mild hamstring soreness, hit a two-run homer off Ryan Helsley.

Minnesota has won seven of its last eight games.

“We’re playing well as a team right now,” Berríos said. “We’re winning games. We need to keep going out there and compete.”

The two-game series between Minnesota and St. Louis was condensed to one day so the Cardinals could have one more day off before the end of the season, with a backlog of makeup games this month.