(Photo credit: Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images)

What does Vincent Janssen do for an encore?

The Portland Timbers' forward became the first player in the team's 522-match history (in MLS regular-season play) to log a hat trick when he did it Saturday night in a wild 5-4 win over Minnesota United, which kept his new club in the thick of the West playoff hunt.

Janssen and Portland look for three more points at home Wednesday night when they meet surging St. Louis City SC.

Janssen tallied a brace in the first half as the Timbers took a 3-0 lead, then gave them the lead for good in the 55th minute with the hatty. It was just the fourth appearance for Janssen with the team.

'Obviously, it's very special to score a hat trick,' he said. 'It's always a special moment in your career. You don't have a lot of them. It's a pleasure ... this is a way of showing the appreciation back to the team and the fans.'

Janssen became the third player in league history to log a hat trick in his first start. It enabled Portland (9-10-4, 31 points) to jump to eighth in the West table.

To earn another positive result, the Timbers will have to beat arguably the hottest team in MLS. St. Louis (10-6-7, 37 points) spanked Vancouver 3-1 Saturday night in British Columbia to improve to 6-0-3 since the World Cup break and 9-0-4 in its last 13 MLS fixtures.

Simon Becher, Tomas Totland and Conrad Wallem scored for St. Louis, which has outscored the opposition 27-13 during its brilliant streak. Hopelessly out of the playoff picture when the roll started in May, St. Louis has risen all the way to fifth in the West table.

St. Louis also served as a buyer during the transfer period by adding a high-end striker in Colorado's Rafael Navarro, who had 10 goals for the Rapids this year and 38 in 97 fixtures since 2023. It paid more than $12 million for Navarro.

'Bringing a player of Rafa's quality to St. Louis represents a significant investment,' said general manager Diego Gigliani.

--Field Level Media