When people driving on a St. Paul freeway during rush hour saw a fiery crash, they stopped and rushed to help the driver.

Kadir Tolla’s vehicle is outfitted with cameras, which captured the dramatic rescue that he was part of and the video has been receiving international attention.

Tessa Sand, a registered nurse, was heading to work and as soon she saw a man in the crashed car, “I was pulling over, without a doubt,” she said Monday. “It’s just what you do for somebody who needs help.”

Dave Klepaida, a Minnesota Department of Transportation “highway helper,” happened to be passing by. He broke out the car’s window and other people pulled the driver to safety.

“All the people that were there, all teamed up and did this,” he said.

The Minnesota State Patrol “is grateful that the driver is OK due to the heroic actions of the individuals who stopped to help,” said State Patrol Lt. Jill Frankfurth. “… The actions of those who pulled this motorist from the burning car demonstrates the importance and willingness of people throughout Minnesota looking out for each other. We are thankful that everyone remained safe.”

Minnesota Department of Transportation Freeway Incident Response Safety Team (FIRST) drivers have window punches attached to their keychains. They can be used to break a car window. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation)

It was Thursday about 6:30 p.m. when a 71-year-old St. Paul driver was eastbound on Interstate 94 before Snelling Avenue and drifted to the right. His vehicle left the road, struck a light pole and then a guardrail, and started on fire, Frankfurth said.

No injuries were reported, but the driver was transported to Regions Hospital for evaluation, according to the State Patrol.

Tolla, who owns Second Home Adult Day Center in St. Anthony with his wife, said he’d already stopped to help someone that day. He saw an older woman with a dog whose vehicle was broken down and he stopped to see if he could help; she said she’d already called a tow truck.

“If I wouldn’t have stopped to help her, I wouldn’t have been on the highway at that time,” said Tolla, 35, of Brooklyn Park. He used to drive a semi truck and he said there were so many people who stopped to help him, “I’m just returning the help I got before.”

In Thursday’s crash, because the car was on the other side of the guardrail, it was preventing the driver’s side door from opening. “We tried and we tried,” said Tolla, adding that the situation felt hopeless.

Klepaida, a MnDOT Freeway Incident Response Safety Team (FIRST) driver for 10 years, said he’s never faced a situation like last week’s. He used the window punch he carries with him, which FIRST drivers have on their keychains, and broke the driver’s window.

Tolla and other people gathered were able to pull the driver out the window and carry him to safety.

Sand was standing back from the fire. She asked the man some health-related questions and inquired if she could call anyone for him. He gave Sand his wife’s number, and she contacted her.

“I think it’s truly amazing, watching what this group of strangers did for this man,” Sand said. “It’s very uplifting.”

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Maybe it was the presence of the dogs in the stands on “Bark at the Park” night on Monday at Target Field that changed the Twins’ mojo.

Maybe it was the presence of the Chicago White Sox in the visitors’ dugout.

Minnesota fans can draw their own conclusions — and deliver any one-liners — after the up-until-now offensively challenged Twins knocked out 11 hits in a 7-0 win over the White Sox before an announced crowd of 12,443.

The Twins (8-13), who entered the game with a team batting average of .195 (only Chicago was worse in the majors), matched a season-high with the 11 hits. Chris Paddack (1-1)  pitched seven strong innings.

The White Sox, who went down quietly, have lost 10 of their last 11 games. Their 3-19 record represents the worst start in franchise history.

Minnesota jumped on Chicago starter Jonathan Cannon early and never looked back. Max Kepler, just off the injured list and a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, lined a double to right-center that drove in a pair of runs in the first inning.

The Twins scored three runs in the third to take a 5-0 lead. A single by Edouard Julien was followed by an RBI double by Trevor Larnach. One out later, Kepler lined a single to right to score Larnach.

Willi Castro collected Minnesota’s fourth hit of the inning, a double off the left-field wall, to score Kepler.

Julien knocked Cannon out of the game in the fourth with an RBI double off the left-field wall for a 6-0 lead. In the seventh, Julien’s fifth home run of the season, a pulled shot to right field provided the final cushion.

Paddack was roughed up in his last start, allowing nine runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings against Baltimore. He rebounded in a big way, striking out 10 while allowing six hits.

Paddack retired the first 10 batters he faced before former Twins outfielder Robbie Grossman singled to center with one out in the fourth. Eloy Jimenez followed with an infield single and an infield single by Gavin Sheets loaded the bases.

But White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn lined out to first base for the second out of the inning and Paddack struck out Paul DeJong to end the threat.

Ronnie Henriquez, called up from the Triple-A prior to the game, came on to pitch in the eighth inning. He was greeted by a lined single to center but retired the next three batters.

Henriquez stayed on to pitch the ninth, and after giving up a leadoff single and a one-out walk, preserved the shutout by retiring the next two batters.

The Phoenix Suns entered the first-round series in the Western Conference playoffs as slight favorites to advance before they were pummeled by Minnesota in Game 1 on Saturday.

Now, the sky is falling and Phoenix appears to be heading toward a first-round exit. The Suns have been in this boat before. They dropped Game 1 to the Clippers in the first round last season before going on to bounce Los Angeles in five games.

“I’m not saying we’re going to win the next four games, but there was a lot of overreacting after we lost Game 1 to the Clippers,” Phoenix guard Devin Booker said. “It’s just a series, so understanding that, understanding every road team had a tough time in the playoffs so far this year (all eight road teams lost Game 1), and we’ll see how Game 2 goes.”

Booker said the series aspect is “the beauty of the playoffs.”

“You see the same team over and over. It’s adjustments versus adjustments. But at the end of the day, you just have to go out there and play,” Booker said. “It’s a roller coaster of emotions for everybody, the fans of each team. I always say you win one game, you’re going to sweep the team, and you lose one game, you’re going to get swept. That’s how everybody feels. That’s the beauty of our sport. That’s why we all love this time of year.”

Maintain the desperation

Minnesota played with a level of desperation Saturday that Timberwolves coach Chris Finch recognized from the basketball his team played over the first two months of the season.

It’s one thing to bring that mentality in Game 1 of the postseason when squaring off against a team that swept you in the regular season, but the challenge now is for Minnesota to bring it again, even with a series lead.

“Our approach has to be one of, like it was the other day, keep our edge, keep our desperation. We still have a ton to prove. We expect this to be a really long series,” Finch said. “That’s a great team over there with a bunch of good coaches who are going to make adjustments. So, we got to be ready for those. Human nature is obviously to relax a little bit and we’ve been preaching that you have to guard against it. I’m pretty sure they’ll be ready.”

Karl-Anthony Towns noted Minnesota’s discipline also has to match its level of desperation. That means continued close attention to details within the game plan and the ability to execute at a high level, even when Phoenix goes on a run.

Minnesota set a high bar for itself on Saturday. Is it attainable to continue to play at that level throughout a series?

“If we want to win, we have to. That’s the main thing. That’s all it is. It’s that easy. If we want to win, we maintain, no, we don’t even maintain — we bring more,” Anthony Edwards said. “If we want to lose, we come out and play how we played at the last game of the (regular) season. It’s just that simple.”

Injury updates

Phoenix listed Grayson Allen as questionable for Tuesday’s Game 2. Allen has a sprained ankle suffered in Saturday’s Game 1.

Suns coach Frank Vogel said Monday that Allen participated in practice but not to a full extent. Allen did some “light movement.”

“He’s been getting treatment nonstop,” Vogel said. “So hopefully the extra day between games should help.”

Allen didn’t make a shot from the field on Saturday, but he’s been perhaps the best 3-point shooter in the NBA this season. He averaged 19 points on 63% shooting from deep in three regular season bouts with Minnesota.

Kyle Anderson — who left Saturday’s game in the first half with a right hip pointer and did not return — practiced Monday, according to Finch.

Anderson, who’s also listed as questionable, looked comfortable while participating in post-practice shooting drills.

“But we’ll see,” Finch said. “See how it keeps responding.”

Either way, Minnesota is comfortable with its options. Monte Morris played well in Anderson’s stead on Saturday.

“We’re lucky to have 10 guys we feel could play rotations minutes. Who those guys are at any given moment may change, obviously injuries force some things the other night,” Finch said. “We leave it open as we do, but we know we got depth to be able to go either direction as we want to.”