Clemens, Lewis, Lee homer off Stanek in the Twins' 9-8 win over the Cardinals

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee homered in the eighth inning — two of three home runs surrendered by St. Louis reliever Ryne Stanek — and the Minnesota Twins outlasted the Cardinals 9-8 on Friday night.

Kody Clemens hit his 10th home run on the third pitch from Stanek to tie it at 7 after the right-hander entered with two on and two out in the seventh.

Stanek (2-1) returned for the eighth, and Lewis hit his fifth homer on his first pitch to tie it at 8. Lee followed one out later with his 11th.

Anthony Banda (2-0) worked out of a one-out bases-loaded jam in the eighth to get the win. Andrew Morris pitched a perfect ninth for his second career save.

Alec Burleson homered for a fourth straight game to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the first off Joe Ryan. The 419-foot shot was his 12th of the season and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.

Byron Buxton hit his 21st homer — and fourth in six games — off Kyle Leahy to tie it 1-1 heading to the second. The center fielder added two doubles and walked, scoring three runs.

Blaze Jordan had an RBI single in his first big league at-bat to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the second and finished 2 for 4. He is the 11th Cardinal to single in a run his first time up. JJ Wetherholt added an RBI single and the Cardinals led 3-1 after two innings.

Lewis singled in the fifth before scoring on Tristan Gray's one-out single to cut it to 3-2, and Josh Bell doubled in a run in the fifth to tie it 3-all.

Lewis had a sacrifice fly off George Soriano to give Minnesota a 4-3 lead in the sixth.

Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to nine games when he drove in three runs with a two-out double — after a bases-loaded walk to Burleson — to give St. Louis a 7-4 lead in the seventh.

Ryan struck out eight in six innings, allowing three runs on six hits.

Leahy gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings.

Cardinals LHP Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 4.48) starts Saturday opposite Twins LHP Connor Prielipp (2-4, 5.15).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Minnesota Twins' Royce Lewis celebrates his solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins pitcher Andrew Morris celebrates his teams win against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Brooks Lee reacts runs the bases on his go-ahead solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Royce Lewis celebrates his solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins third baseman Brooks Lee and first baseman Royce Lewis celebrate their teams win against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center was running out of options Friday evening to keep President Donald Trump's name on the facade of the iconic performing arts venue.

A judge earlier in the afternoon rejected a request to pause a court-ordered deadline of Friday to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the Kennedy Center's operations. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.

Scaffolding was erected around a section of the building that includes Trump's name but the Kennedy Center sought a short extension to complete the work. Shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of storms that had swept through the Washington area Friday, causing a delay. Some of the thunderstorms included lightning.

In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”

Dozens of people spent hours on the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as they broke into chants of “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued to have Trump's name removed from the building, was spotted at one point on the plaza as well.

After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was quickly added to the building.

In his ruling that only Congress could make changes to the Kennedy Center's name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.

The Kennedy Center's leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump's speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.

“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”

Even as the Kennedy Center has fought efforts to remove Trump's name from the building, it has taken steps to comply with Cooper's initial ruling.

A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped Trump's name. And an earlier email sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.

Associated Press journalists Anna Johnson, Mark Sherman and Emily Wang in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Workers construct scaffolding at the sign for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Workers construct scaffolding below the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

A worker sits on scaffolding at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)