The Pirates pounded the Twins with homers en route to a 9-1, series-clinching win at PNC Park Thursday night. Rod Barajas, Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez all went deep for Pittsburgh. The shot by Alvarez would have landed in the river outside the park if it didn’t hit a light tower.
Pittsburgh jumped on the Twins with a two-out rally against starter Liam Hendriks. Brian Dozier committed a two-out error in the second-inning, which allowed Pirates star Andrew McCutchen to bust the game open with a three-run triple.
Minnesota scored its only run on Ryan Doumit’s RBI single in the fourth.
Hendriks gave up six-runs in five innings. Only three of the runs were earned.
James McDonald threw a complete game for the Pirates, the first of his career.
