Joe Mauer picked out a good time for his first home run of the season. His drive to the right field seats broke a tie in the top of the 13th inning to give the Twins the lead on their way to a 4-3 victory Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
That ends a career-long homer drought of 286 at-bats for Mauer. Last one came last Aug. 17 vs. Jeremy Guthrie (KC).
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) May 21, 2015
Glen Perkins came on in the bottom of the 13th to close out the win with his 15th save – striking out Pedro Alvarez for the final out.
After three scoreless innings from J.R. Graham, Brian Duensing (2-0) pitched the 12th for the win.
Like Tuesday night, the Twins took the early lead – this time with a three-run first inning. Torii Hunter cleared the bases with a double.
Mike Pelfrey bounced back from a rough outing by holding the Pirates to one run on five hits while striking out five in six innings. But the Twins bullpen couldn’t hold the lead as Andrew McCutchen homered off Blaine Boyer to tie the game.
Welp. There goes Blaine Boyer's scoreless innings streak. It ends at 18 innings. #MNTwins
— Tyler Mason (@tylermason21) May 21, 2015
The score stayed tied at three until Mauer’s homer in the 13th, giving the Twins the lead.
Hunter led the Twins, finishing 3-for-5 on the night with three RBIs. Mauer was 2-for-6 with the solo-home run and Pelfrey was the only other Twin with more than one hit, going 2-for-2 at the plate.
The Twins head for Chicago with Phil Hughes (3-4) on the mound Friday night to open a series against the White Sox.
