Pittsburgh Pirates vs Minnesota Twins Box Score on Apr 24, 2021

Trevor Cahill allowed one run on two hits over six innings and Michael Perez and Kevin Newman each homered as the Pittsburgh Pirates cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday in Minneapolis.

Perez, who entered the game 0-for-15 on the road, went 3-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs. It was the third three-hit game of his career.

Cahill (1-2) entered the contest with a 9.69 ERA 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, struck out two and retired the last 13 batters he faced while inducing 11 groundouts.

Michael Pineda (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings while striking out five. It was the first time since June 23, 2019 that he allowed five runs in a start.

Jake Cave went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI for the Twins, who finished with just three hits.

Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

Erik Gonzalez singled with one out, went to third on a bloop double down the left field line by Gregory Polanco and then scored on shortstop Jorge Polanco's throwing error on a Todd Frazier grounder. Perez then followed with a two-run double into the gap in right-center, his first extra-base hit of the season.

The Twins cut it to 3-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Polanco walked, advanced to second on a single by Willians Astudillo and scored on Cave's double to left-center.

The Pirates extended their lead to 5-1 in the fifth on back-to-back homers by Perez and Newman. Perez's blast was a 408-foot drive into the plaza behind the right-field bleachers, while Newman's homer was his first of the season.

Pittsburgh made it 6-1 on a sacrifice fly by Newman in the sixth.

The Twins cut it to 6-2 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Josh Donaldson, driving in Cave who led off with a double and advanced to third when left fielder Phillip Evans dropped a fly ball hit by Luis Arraez.

--Field Level Media