• Final: Pirates 2, Twins 1. Pirates snap a season-high eight-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break.
• Back-to-back strikeouts for Bednar as he locates a nice curveball on the outer half.
• One down as Bednar strikes out Lee with an inside curveball. Great pitch.
• After a seven-pitch battle, Correa singles into left. Correa just put a good swing on a splitter at the bottom of the zone.
• David Bednar enters looking to end this eight-game losing streak.
• McCutchen strikes out swinging on a splitter down the middle, but the Pirates have the lead.
• That's three straight hits for the Pirates and they have 10 in the game.
• RUN: Horwitz grounds out to Lee, who couldn't execute a throw to second. He gets Horwitz at first, but Hayes scores. Pirates, 2-1
• Kiner-Falefa singles up the middle and the bases are loaded. That ties a career-high four hits for IKF today.
• Cruz reaches on an infield single. Hayes gets to second safely.
• Oneil Cruz is going to hit for Davis.
• Suwinski strikes out looking before Hayes singles up the middle on the first pitch he sees.
• Jhoan Duran gets the ninth for the Twins.
• End of eighth inning: Castro hits a swinging bunt in front of the plate and Davis fires to third for the out. Larnach then flies out to Suwinski.
• Vazquez and Buxton come up with back-to-back singles. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. will replace Vazquez at second.
• Santana takes over.
• A: 24,959
• Jax works a 1-2-3 inning with nine pitches. He struck out Gonzales and got Pham to ground out to short.
• Griffin Jax enters and gets Reynolds to line out to third on the first pitch he throws.
• End of seventh inning: Ferguson strikes out France on a slurve and works a 1-2-3 inning.
• Dennis Santana is warming up in the pen.
• After Lewis flies out to left field, Ty France will pinch-hit for Clemens.
• Caleb Ferguson takes over for the Pirates. Keller's line: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 Ks.
• IKF's stranded on first. Weak groundout by Horwitz and Cutch goes down looking.
• IKF isn't having trouble getting on base. Third single of the day comes with one out in the seventh.
• End of sixth inning: Keller retires the Twins in order. He's allowed just one hit over his last three innings. Have to think his day might be done at 83 pitches. But I'd personally let him go out for the seventh. He's been great. CalebFerguson was warming.
• Hayes down swinging. That was a bad inning.
• And Suwinski is picked off first. I think he should've just kept going to second. If you're gonna get picked off like that, at least give yourself a chance to take an extra base.
• Now Suwinski walks. Could have had two on right now.
• Pham is a guy who usually does hustle to first. Wasn't there. May have cost the Pirates a baserunner, as Clemens briefly lost the low throw from Lewis on the 5-3.
• End of fifthinning: Keller overcomes yet again. He's doing his job, as per usual. Again, he deserves more. Sitting at 71 pitches after five. Have to imagine he gets the sixth.
• Bader showed off his glove in robbing Horwitz in the top half of this inning and he shows off the bat again. Second hit of the day is a one-out single.
• Gonzales grounds out to first and two more runners are stranded.
• Varland, and his 1.87 ERA in 45 appearances, replaces Woods Richardson.
• Reynolds lays off an 0-2 splitter out of the zone, but swings through a curve in the dirt. He's now struck out five times in this series.
• LouisVarland is warming in the Twins' bullpen. Woods Richardson is at 72 pitches and two are on after a one-out single by McCutchen.
• IKF reaches on an infield single. He collided with Clemens, who was trying to field a high throw from Correa. Clemens was checked out but remains in the game.
• End of fourth inning: Keller retires the Twins in order. A 12-pitch inning. Final pitch on his strikeout of Wallner was nasty. Fastball that hit the outer corner of the zone.
• Woods Richardson strikes out two in a 1-2-3 fourth. He's retired seven in a row since McCutchen's bases-loaded flyout in the second.
• End of third inning: Keller limits the damage. He's at 48 pitches through three.
• RUN: Buxton doubles off the base of the wall in left. He just keeps hitting. All tied at 1-1
• Quick top of the third.
• End of second inning: Keller overcomes the leadoff double allowed to Correa. Had to battle, but he does enough to come away unscathed. That's what this guy does. Record doesn't indicate that, but he deserves more.
• Correa concludes a 10-pitch AB with a double the other way to right. Really made Keller work by fouling off four pitches. Finally got a slider on the outer edge.
• Cutch flies out on the first pitch he sees. Fastball up in the zone. Pirates get a run on three hits, including Pham's homer. Bases are left loaded, though. Wasted opportunity to add.
• Horwitz battles back from being behind 0-2 to draw a walk. Bases full for Cutch.
• IKF sends one up the middle for a two-out single to put two on for Horwitz. Fastball up and out of the zone. Guys are actually getting some good swings off here early. Credit where it's due.
• Woods Richardson leaves a slider on the inner third and Hayes sends it into left for a one-out single.
• HOME RUN: Pham goes deep to center. Fourth of the season. Got all of a slider on the outer third. Pirates, 1-0
• End of firstinning: Clean start for Keller. Induced some weak grounders and struck out Castro with a 96 mph fastball down the heart of the plate. Only needed to throw 10 pitches.
• Gonzales pops out to strand Reynolds.
• Reynolds concludes a lengthy nine-pitch at-bat with a two-out double off the wall in right field. Nice AB there. Fouled off some tough pitches in the zone before getting a slider on the inner third.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Twins, 2:11 p.m. Eastern, Woods Richardson to Horwitz, 82 degrees, sunny
• Don Kelly's starting nine:
1. Spencer Horwitz, 1B 2. Andrew McCutchen, DH 3. Bryan Reynolds, RF 4. Nick Gonzales, 2B 5. Tommy Pham, LF 6. Jack Suwinski, CF 7. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B 8. Henry Davis, C 9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
• For Rocco Baldelli's Twins:
1. Byron Buxton, CF 2. Willi Castro, 2B 3. Trevor Larnach, DH 4. Carlos Correa, SS 5. Matt Wallner, RF 6. Royce Lewis, 3B 7. Kody Clemens, 1B 8. Harrison Bader, LF 9. Christian Vazquez, C
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
THE ASYLUM
Final: Pirates 2, Twins 1
• Who: Pirates (38-58) vs. Twins (47-47)
• What: MLB regular season, Game 97
• When: 2:10 p.m., Eastern
• Where: Target Field
• Weather: 84°, sunny
• Pitchers: RHP Mitch Keller (3-10, 3.58 ERA) vs. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.08 ERA)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
• Radio: Pirates Radio Network
• Streaming: SNP360, MLB.TV
• Satellite: SiriusXM 183/852/861
• Boxscore: MLB.com
• Media notes: Pirates | Twins
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Final: Pirates 2, Twins 1. Pirates snap a season-high eight-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break.
• Back-to-back strikeouts for Bednar as he locates a nice curveball on the outer half.
• One down as Bednar strikes out Lee with an inside curveball. Great pitch.
• After a seven-pitch battle, Correa singles into left. Correa just put a good swing on a splitter at the bottom of the zone.
• David Bednar enters looking to end this eight-game losing streak.
• McCutchen strikes out swinging on a splitter down the middle, but the Pirates have the lead.
• That's three straight hits for the Pirates and they have 10 in the game.
• RUN: Horwitz grounds out to Lee, who couldn't execute a throw to second. He gets Horwitz at first, but Hayes scores. Pirates, 2-1
• Kiner-Falefa singles up the middle and the bases are loaded. That ties a career-high four hits for IKF today.
• Cruz reaches on an infield single. Hayes gets to second safely.
• Oneil Cruz is going to hit for Davis.
• Suwinski strikes out looking before Hayes singles up the middle on the first pitch he sees.
• Jhoan Duran gets the ninth for the Twins.
• End of eighth inning: Castro hits a swinging bunt in front of the plate and Davis fires to third for the out. Larnach then flies out to Suwinski.
• Vazquez and Buxton come up with back-to-back singles. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. will replace Vazquez at second.
• Santana takes over.
• A: 24,959
• Jax works a 1-2-3 inning with nine pitches. He struck out Gonzales and got Pham to ground out to short.
• Griffin Jax enters and gets Reynolds to line out to third on the first pitch he throws.
• End of seventh inning: Ferguson strikes out France on a slurve and works a 1-2-3 inning.
• Dennis Santana is warming up in the pen.
• After Lewis flies out to left field, Ty France will pinch-hit for Clemens.
• Caleb Ferguson takes over for the Pirates. Keller's line: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 Ks.
• IKF's stranded on first. Weak groundout by Horwitz and Cutch goes down looking.
• IKF isn't having trouble getting on base. Third single of the day comes with one out in the seventh.
• End of sixth inning: Keller retires the Twins in order. He's allowed just one hit over his last three innings. Have to think his day might be done at 83 pitches. But I'd personally let him go out for the seventh. He's been great. Caleb Ferguson was warming.
• Hayes down swinging. That was a bad inning.
• And Suwinski is picked off first. I think he should've just kept going to second. If you're gonna get picked off like that, at least give yourself a chance to take an extra base.
• Now Suwinski walks. Could have had two on right now.
• Pham is a guy who usually does hustle to first. Wasn't there. May have cost the Pirates a baserunner, as Clemens briefly lost the low throw from Lewis on the 5-3.
• End of fifth inning: Keller overcomes yet again. He's doing his job, as per usual. Again, he deserves more. Sitting at 71 pitches after five. Have to imagine he gets the sixth.
• Bader showed off his glove in robbing Horwitz in the top half of this inning and he shows off the bat again. Second hit of the day is a one-out single.
• Gonzales grounds out to first and two more runners are stranded.
• Varland, and his 1.87 ERA in 45 appearances, replaces Woods Richardson.
• Reynolds lays off an 0-2 splitter out of the zone, but swings through a curve in the dirt. He's now struck out five times in this series.
• Louis Varland is warming in the Twins' bullpen. Woods Richardson is at 72 pitches and two are on after a one-out single by McCutchen.
• IKF reaches on an infield single. He collided with Clemens, who was trying to field a high throw from Correa. Clemens was checked out but remains in the game.
• End of fourth inning: Keller retires the Twins in order. A 12-pitch inning. Final pitch on his strikeout of Wallner was nasty. Fastball that hit the outer corner of the zone.
• Woods Richardson strikes out two in a 1-2-3 fourth. He's retired seven in a row since McCutchen's bases-loaded flyout in the second.
• End of third inning: Keller limits the damage. He's at 48 pitches through three.
• RUN: Buxton doubles off the base of the wall in left. He just keeps hitting. All tied at 1-1
• Quick top of the third.
• End of second inning: Keller overcomes the leadoff double allowed to Correa. Had to battle, but he does enough to come away unscathed. That's what this guy does. Record doesn't indicate that, but he deserves more.
• Correa concludes a 10-pitch AB with a double the other way to right. Really made Keller work by fouling off four pitches. Finally got a slider on the outer edge.
• Cutch flies out on the first pitch he sees. Fastball up in the zone. Pirates get a run on three hits, including Pham's homer. Bases are left loaded, though. Wasted opportunity to add.
• Horwitz battles back from being behind 0-2 to draw a walk. Bases full for Cutch.
• IKF sends one up the middle for a two-out single to put two on for Horwitz. Fastball up and out of the zone. Guys are actually getting some good swings off here early. Credit where it's due.
• Woods Richardson leaves a slider on the inner third and Hayes sends it into left for a one-out single.
• HOME RUN: Pham goes deep to center. Fourth of the season. Got all of a slider on the outer third. Pirates, 1-0
• End of first inning: Clean start for Keller. Induced some weak grounders and struck out Castro with a 96 mph fastball down the heart of the plate. Only needed to throw 10 pitches.
• Gonzales pops out to strand Reynolds.
• Reynolds concludes a lengthy nine-pitch at-bat with a two-out double off the wall in right field. Nice AB there. Fouled off some tough pitches in the zone before getting a slider on the inner third.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Twins, 2:11 p.m. Eastern, Woods Richardson to Horwitz, 82 degrees, sunny
• Don Kelly's starting nine:
1. Spencer Horwitz, 1B
2. Andrew McCutchen, DH
3. Bryan Reynolds, RF
4. Nick Gonzales, 2B
5. Tommy Pham, LF
6. Jack Suwinski, CF
7. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
8. Henry Davis, C
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
• For Rocco Baldelli's Twins:
1. Byron Buxton, CF
2. Willi Castro, 2B
3. Trevor Larnach, DH
4. Carlos Correa, SS
5. Matt Wallner, RF
6. Royce Lewis, 3B
7. Kody Clemens, 1B
8. Harrison Bader, LF
9. Christian Vazquez, C
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!