PITTSBURG – Manuel Margot hit an RBI triple to spark a seven-run outburst in the 10th inning, and the Minnesota Twins ended a five-game losing streak with an 11-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Margot led off the 10th with a triple to center field off a cutter by Ben Heller (0-1), scoring automatic runner Kyle Farmer. Willi Castro was hit for the second time in the game, bringing another run with the bases loaded and no outs. Carlos Santana scored two more with a double to right, ahead of a two-run single by Carlos Correa and another single by Max Kepler that made it 11-4.
“The game is crazy,” Minnesota coach Rocco Baldelli said. “You can play and things go a certain way for days and days and days at a time, and then you put it all together and put up, what we put up, seven runs in an inning in extra innings? It’s nonsense. And when I say it’s crazy, we’re all a little crazy. If you like this, you like things like today.
Heller, who has struck out three batters, has a 49.50 ERA. He allowed five runs in one inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, two days after being drafted out of Triple-A Indianapolis.
“You have to try to keep your head up,” Pittsburgh coach Derek Shelton said. “I mean, he fought in both outings here. We have to continue to work with him.”
Jhoan Durán (1-2) pitched a perfect ninth inning.
The Twins were eliminated in the first two games of the three-game series after being defeated in three games at Yankee Stadium. The Pirates finished a 4-2 home game that included two wins out of three against the Dodgers.
“It took a long time,” Baldelli said. “Squeeze a lot of juice and try to get everything you can. You just keep squeezing and hope more comes out. I don’t know what I’m saying right now, but the truth is it was a lot of work.”
Jared Jones went five innings and allowed three runs – all in the first – on six hits for Pittsburgh.
The rookie right-hander was tagged with back-to-back singles by Trevor Larnach and Correa in the first before walking Kepler to load the bases with one out. José Miranda walked strong in the first round, Correa scored with a defender’s choice and Kepler made it 3-0 with a pass.
Henry Davis and Andrew McCutchen walked with two outs in the Pirates’ fifth. Bryan Reynolds got an RBI double off Twins starter Bailey Ober just above a leaping Santana at first base and down the right field line.
Connor Joe then sent a changeup to left center for a two-run triple, putting Pittsburgh ahead 4-3 and ending Ober’s departure after 4 2/3 innings. He gave up four runs and seven hits.
“I felt great,” Ober said. “I felt like I was under control the whole game until I tried to release the last one when I was there.”
Kyle Nicolas hit Castro with a pitch and walked Santana to load the bases with one out in the sixth. Justin Bruihl allowed a sacrifice fly by Royce Lewis, tying it at 4-all.
“Everything is positive,” Santana said. “It’s a long season, a long season. The season has its ups and downs, but we have to keep our heads up, take it one day at a time and try to play hard every day to win.”
NEXT
Twins: RHP Chris Paddack (4-3, 5.26 ERA) will start Monday to begin a three-game home series against the Rockies. RHP Dakota Hudson (2-7, 5.25) goes to Colorado.
Pirates: Rookie RHP Paul Skenes (3-0, 3.00 ERA), drafted No. 1 overall in 2023, will take over on Tuesday to open a three-game series in St. Louis alongside RHP Miles Mikolas (4-6, 5.32) .
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
