FORT MYERS, Fla. • Against a tricky Minnesota lefty who would strike out eight of his teammates Wednesday, Kolten Wong got wise to his chances and dropped a bunt, stealing his only hit of the afternoon. The Cardinals infielder didn’t score a run, didn’t drive in a run, didn’t take an extra base. But he made all of the routine plays at second, once he let instinct steer him to a spot where the grounder cordially met him.

It was another ho-hum, humdrum day at the office that didn’t fill up the box score and didn’t produce a defensive highlight.

It’s the kind of game that will keep him in the lineup.

“The biggest thing is understanding what my game is,” said Wong, after an 8-0 exhibition loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium. “If I hit a home run, I can’t go up and try to continue to hit home runs. I need to allow that to happen. I love to try and be the guy. I love to try and be the guy in the limelight. Understanding I have that in me, but I don’t need to go chasing after it. It only makes me look like I’m doing too much or making errors, stupid errors. I just have to let the game come to me.”