Edmonds powers comeback over Twins

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jim Edmonds homered, tripled and doubled as the St. Louis Cardinals came from behind to beat the Minnesota Twins 8-6 Wednesday night.

Edmonds came out for a pinch-runner after his double in the top of the fifth inning, so he didn't get a chance to hit for the cycle.

The Cardinals erased a 5-1 deficit and took the lead for good with two runs in the seventh on RBI singles by Bill Ortega and Eli Marrero.

Corey Koskie went 3-for-3 with a double in his first game back from a bone bruise on his right wrist, sustained on March 3 in batting practice.

"I felt pretty good with my timing and I was able to slow everything down," Koskie said. "I just hope I can carry it over because usually your first day after a long layoff is pretty good."

Andy Benes (1-1) picked up the win for St. Louis after throwing four innings in relief of starter Darryl Kile and Dave Veres. He gave up one run on one hit, three walks and three strikeouts.

Brian Meadows (0-2) took the loss for Minnesota after giving up three runs in relief of starter Rick Reed, who gave up five runs on 10 hits, including two homers, and struck out four.

Minnesota batted around in the bottom of the second and scored five runs off of Kile. Koskie batted twice in the inning, leading off with a single and scoring on A.J. Pierzynski's three-run homer, his first of the spring. Koskie singled again after Torii Hunter drove in the last two runs of the inning.