One night after being shutout, the Pittsburgh Pirates offense came to play in game two of this three game series against the Minnesota Twins. The offense was led by Kevin Newman and Michael Perez, but those two had some help from their teammates. The starting pitching for Pittsburgh was strong yet again with Trevor Cahill earning his first win with the black and gold.
The Pirates offense started to roll in the second inning with a Jorge Polanco throwing error that allowed Eric Gonzalez to score. Perez then cashed in with a two RBI double to right center that plated Gregory Polanco and Todd Frazier. Minnesota would get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning when Jake Cave doubled home Polanco.
That would be the lone run that Cahill would allow over his six innings of work on the mound this afternoon. He would allow two hits to go with two strikeouts and two walks. I think most will agree that anytime Pittsburgh can get six innings out of their starter it is a good day. The Pirates offense would touch up Twins starter Michael Pineda for four earned runs over his 4.1 innings on the mound.
The fifth inning would see Pittsburgh increase their lead to four when Perez and Newman smacked back-to-back solo home runs. Newman would come through with another RBI in the sixth when he hit a sac fly to right to bring in T. Frazier. Minnesota would score the final run of the game in the eighth with a Josh Donaldson sac fly to center.
The Pirates would use three pitchers out of the bullpen. Duane Underwood Jr. pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit to go with three strikeouts. Kyle Crick covered the remainder of the eighth inning, striking out one batter. Even though there wasn’t a save on the line, the ninth inning belonged to Richard Rodriguez. He would strike out one batter during that time.
This was a good bounce back game for Pittsburgh and with the win it guarantees a winning road trip. On the line tomorrow is a chance to win another series and get their overall record back to .500 on the season. First pitch is set for 2:10pm
Record vs. Twins: 1-1
Record vs. American League: 3-2
Record on the Road: 6-8
Overall Record: 10-11
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
