Pirates snap 8-game skid with win over Twins
Pirates end 8-game skid with All-Star Game coming
Trending
MINNEAPOLIS -- Spencer Horwitz had a bases-loaded RBI ground out in the ninth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended an eight-game slide by beating the Minnesota Twins 2-1 Sunday.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied a career high with four hits for Pittsburgh.
Ke'Bryan Hayes singled with one out in the ninth off Twins closer Jhoan Duran (5-4). Pinch-hitter Oneil Cruz had an infield single and Kiner-Falefa singled to load the bases.
Horwitz hit a sharp grounder that second baseman Brooks Lee dove to his right to stop. Looking to start a double play, Lee couldn't cleanly get the ball out of his glove and had to settle for a force out at first allowing Hayes to score.
Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless eighth (3-2) for the Pirates and David Bednar earned his 13th save.
Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Harrison Bader each had two hits for Minnesota, which finished 6-3 on a nine-game homestand but failed to get back to .500 for the first time since June 17.
Mitch Keller allowed one run in six innings for Pittsburgh but again got little support. The Pirates have scored one or zero runs while Keller is in the game in 11 of his 20 starts.
Yet, his 14 quality starts are tied for second in the majors with Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler. San Francisco's Logan Webb has 15.
Tommy Pham homered in the second for Pittsburgh. Buxton, who hit for the cycle Saturday, had an RBI double in the third.
Key moment
Tied 1-1, Minnesota had runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, but Willi Castro hit a dribbler in front of the plate and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was thrown out at third. Trevor Larnach then flew out.
Key stat
Minnesota's Simeon Woods Richardson allowed six hits and one earned run in 4ª innings. He's allowed five earned runs in 30ª innings in his past six starts.
Saturday's game
All-Star center fielder Buxton hit for the cycle on his bobblehead day, completing it with a solo home run in the seventh inning, and the Twins routed the Pirates 12-4 on Saturday.
Buxton hit a single in the first inning, a triple in the second and a double in the third. He singled again in the fifth before stepping to the plate in the seventh for one more chance at the first cycle ever at Target Field, which opened in 2010.
Facing Pirates reliever Andrew Heaney, Buxton hit a solo homer 427 feet to center field to complete the cycle -- and send Target Field into a frenzy. His timing was perfect, too: Saturday's giveaway at the stadium was a Buxton bobblehead of his "Buck Truck" home run celebration.
Buxton's homer came two days before the Home Run Derby, in which he'll participate in his home state of Georgia at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Kody Clemens hit a three-run homer in the Twins' six-run second inning. Matt Wallner and Castro each hit solo homers, with Castro's coming right after Buxton's momentous blast.
Cole Sands threw two hitless innings as Minnesota's opening pitcher. Reliever Travis Adams (1-0) gave up two hits and two runs -- one unearned -- in four innings to pick up his first career win in his second major league appearance.
Pirates starter Mike Burrows (1-3) recorded just four outs before he was lifted in his shortest start of the year.
Jack Suwinski homered for the Pirates.
Up next
The Pirates return to action Friday after the All-Star break, playing host to the Chicago White Sox.