Trevor Cahill allowed a two-hit run over six innings and Michael Perez and Kevin Newman each met when the Pittsburgh Pirates tied for a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 24th.
Perez, who came into the game 0-15 on the street, went 3-3 with a walk and three RBIs. It was the third three-hit game of his career.
Cahill (1-2) entered the competition with an ERA of 9.69 and had allowed seven runs in two of his three previous starts.
On Saturday, Cahill kept the twins off balance with a variety of off-speed pitches. He walked two, knocked out two, and pulled back the last 13 batters while triggering 11 groundouts.
Michael Pineda (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs (four of which were earned) with six hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings while scoring five hits. It was the first time since June 23, 2019 that he allowed five runs at the same time.
Jake Cave went 2-3 with two doubles, a run score and an RBI for the Twins, who ended up with just three hits.
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
Erik Gonzalez prevailed with an out, finished third in a bloop double on the left field line from Gregory Polanco and then hit Jorge Polanco’s throwing error on a Todd Frazier grounder on shortstop. Perez followed with a brace into the gap in the right center, his first extra base hit of the season.
The Twins took it 3-1 in the second inning when Polanco left, moved up to second on a single from Willian’s Astudillo, and hit Cave’s doubles to the left.
The Pirates extended their lead to 5-1 in the fifth against two consecutive homers from Perez and Newman. Perez’s blast was a 408-foot drive into the seat behind the stands in the right field, while Newman’s Homer was his first of the season.
Pittsburgh made it 6-1 on a victim flight from Newman in the sixth.
The Twins made it 6-2 in game eight with a victim flight from Josh Donaldson, who drove into Cave, who drove away on a double and moved up to third when left fielder Phillip Evans dropped a fly ball hit by Luis Arraez.
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