PITTSBURGH -- Spencer Horwitz sent Bailey Ober’s second pitch of the game over the right-field stands and out of the stadium to give Pittsburgh the early lead on Saturday afternoon. That was just the start of the Bucs' scoring barrage.
With Mitch Keller and Ober on the mound, the Pirates and Twins combined for 14 runs in the first four innings as a six-run Pittsburgh lead dwindled to zero. Jake Mangum snatched the lead back for the Pirates in the fifth inning as a sharp single to left scored Konnor Griffin, racing around third.
Pittsburgh added two more in the seventh, which was enough to defeat Minnesota, 10-9, for the series win. The Pirates will go for the sweep on Sunday.
The Twins tied the game in the top of the second inning, as Keller allowed three hits and Kody Clemens scored. Mangum took the lead right back with a solo home run to right field and Horwitz reached base again on a single lost in the sun.
Pittsburgh continued to tally on Ober, with Brandon Lowe hitting a single, Bryan Reynolds walking and Nick Gonzales ripping a single to right field to score two. Oneil Cruz then broke things open with a three-run shot to dead center field. Cruz’s 13th home run of the year and second in as many days stretched the lead to 7-1 just two innings in.
Minnesota didn’t go away. The Twins scored in the third and added two more in the fourth on a double by nine-hitter Tristan Gray. Then, as Keller struggled in the fourth, Clemens tallied his third hit to tie the game at 7-7.
Griffin’s run was preserved for multiple innings in relief as Keller was backed by four scoreless innings from four different pitchers before Mason Montgomery ran into trouble in the eighth. The Pirates had added two runs in the bottom of the seventh and another in the eighth, but the Twins' late offense threatened and forced Gregory Soto into a four-out save.
Soto worked out of the jam in the eighth and spun a clean ninth to secure another win, his third save of the homestand.