The Twins have lost five of six on their seven-game road trip.
Helms, who now has 13 home runs, followed Vander Wal's leadoff homer in the fourth with his first home run. He added a three-run shot in the sixth for his first multihomer game this season and third of his career.
Wayne Franklin (3-5) pitched seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and three walks. He struck out two. He worked out of jams in the third and seventh when the Twins had two runners on with one out.
Danny Kolb and John Foster finished the five-hitter.
Expos 8, Blue Jays 5
In Montreal, Orlando Cabrera's three-run homer capped a seven-run eighth inning and Montreal overcame a five-run deficit for a win over Toronto.
Trailing 5-1 in the eighth, Montreal tied it on Jose Macias' RBI grounder off Aquilino Lopez, Endy Chavez's two-run double and pinch hitter Brian Schneider's RBI grounder off Cliff Politte (1-5).
With two outs and runners at second and third, Cabrera connected off Politte for his 11th homer of the season to give Montreal its first lead of the game, setting off the loudest of several prolonged cheers in the inning from the Olympic Stadium crowd of 11,483.
Former NBA player Mark Hendrickson became the first Blue Jays pitcher ever to hit a home run to spark the outburst.
Rockies 9, Tigers 6
In Denver, Preston Wilson hit a three-run homer off Steve Sparks (0-4) in the fifth inning and added a solo shot in the seventh, helping Colorado beat Detroit.
Todd Helton and Juan Uribe also had solo homers for Colorado, which turned four double plays.
Jason Jennings (7-5) won his fourth straight start, going seven innings and allowing 10 hits and three runs. He walked two and struck out seven.
Detroit starter Matt Roney, a former Rockies prospect who pitched 4 1-3 innings of scoreless relief against his former team last Sunday, made his first major league start. He went 3 2-3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs and departing with a 3-2 lead.
Detroit's Warren Morris hit a three-run homer off Jose Jimenez in the ninth to make it 9-6.
Cardinals 8, Royals 1
In St. Louis, Woody Williams bounced back from two subpar starts with eight strong innings, and went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in thes Cardinals' victory over Kansas City.
Albert Pujols homered and drove in four runs and rookie Bo Hart had three hits, making him 7-for-12 in three games since he was brought up from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday.
The Cardinals have won four of five and took a 12-11 lead in the interleague series against their cross-state rivals, who beat them in the 1985 World Series. Joe Randa homered for the Royals.
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