ST. LOUIS -- Pitching in Busch Stadium sure seems to suit John Lackey.

The St. Louis Cardinals right hander improved to 7-1 at home since being acquired from Boston at last year's trade deadline. He worked eight solid innings Monday night in a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Busch Stadium.

Working with six days of rest since his last start, a 10-run disaster over just four innings June 8 at Colorado, Lackey (5-4) gave up only five hits and two runs while walking one and whiffing six. He threw 74 of his 100 pitches for strikes.

Lackey's 3.59 earned run average would be close to a run lower were it not for his outing last week in Coors Field.

"I think a lot of people have had those in Denver," Lackey said.

While Lackey finished the eighth inning for the first time this year, the offense provided the winning margin with its first back-to-back homers of the season in the fourth inning.

After first baseman Mark Reynolds blasted a 410-foot shot into the Minnesota bullpen in left field for his fifth homer of the year, catcher Yadier Molina made it 3-0 with his first homer since June 27, 2014, lining a 387-foot blast into the Twins' bullpen.

As he touched first base on his first home run trot in 343 at-bats, Molina pumped his fists and the sellout crowd of 43,174 let loose a thunderous roar.

"I know a lot of people have been concerned about it, but it's not been an issue in our room," manager Mike Matheny said of Molina's power outage. "He hit four balls on the button today and he finally got one to carry."

It was just the third time since the start of last year that St. Louis (42-21) clouted back-to-back homers. The Cardinals' 49 homers is just 13th in the National League, ahead of only Atlanta (41) and Philadelphia (36).

Center fielder Jon Jay accounted for St. Louis' first run with a bloop single over a drawn-in infield in the third, scoring left fielder Randal Grichuk, who tripled to left-center to lead off the inning.

Lackey needed just 70 pitches to sail through six scoreless innings, but the Twins (34-29) solved him in the seventh with a two-out RBI single by catcher Kurt Suzuki.

They made it a one-run game in the eighth when second baseman Brian Dozier lofted a sacrifice fly to score center fielder Byron Buxton, who tripled with one out for his first major league hit.

But Kevin Siegrist, closing for the Cardinals because Trevor Rosenthal wasn't available due to a tight right arm, retired Minnesota in the ninth for his second save.

"The crowd's a little more into it because it's the ninth," Siegrist said, "but as far as any other outing, it's the same."

Trevor May (4-5) took the loss for the Twins, allowing five hits and three runs over five innings with a walk and three strikeouts. It was Minnesota's sixth loss in seven games.

But at least one Twin had a nice night in a venue where the road team is 7-25 this year.

Former St. Louis outfielder Shane Robinson pinch-hit in the sixth and received a long ovation from a crowd that remembered his two key hits in the 2013 NLCS that helped eliminate the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Robinson then drew more cheers with a leadoff single, although the rally fizzled.

"Felt very comfortable being back here," he said. "To have the fans show appreciation for my time here was something I really appreciated."

NOTES: St. Louis announced that it would make up Sunday's postponement with the Kansas City Royals at 6:15 p.m. on July 23. It was a mutual open date for both teams, putting neither in violation of playing more than 20 consecutive days. ... Minnesota RF Torii Hunter returned to the lineup after serving his two-game suspension for a tirade following his ejection Wednesday night from a 7-2 loss to the Royals. He went 0-for-3. ... OF Nick Plummer and RHP Jake Woodford, both first-round draft picks