Pirates Losing Streak Continues With Blowout to Twins

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates went behind early to the Minnesota Twins, who would continue their offensive onslaught in a 12-4 defeat for the road team at Target Field.

The Pirates have lost all eight games on this road trip, which includes back-to-back sweeps to the Seattle Mariners, July 4-6 at T-Mobile Field, and the Kansas City Royals, July 7-9 at Kauffman Stadium, plus the series opener vs. the Twins on July 11, 2-1.

This eight-game losing streak is the longest for the Pirates this season, eclipsing the seven-game losing streak from May 1-7, which saw them fire manager Derek Shelton aftewards. It is the longest losing streak since they suffered 10 conescutive losses from Aug. 4-14, 2024.

Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Mike Burrows began the bottom of the first inning by allowing a leadoff single to Twins All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton and walking left fielder Willy Castro.

He would get out of the inning by striking out Twins right fielder Trevor Larnach, getting catcher Ryan Jeffers to fly out and shortstop Brooks Lee to ground out.

Burrows got designated hitter Matt Wallner to fly out, but struggled with his command and control the rest of the inning.

He walked third baseman Royce Lewis and then hit first baseman Ty France with a pitch, before giving up a three-run home run to second baseman Kody Clemens, putting the Twins up 3-0.

Burrows then gave up a triple to Buxton and Castro reached on an infield single on a ball hit in front of home plate. Buxton scored, making it 4-0, and then Castro made it to second base on the error.

He would walk Larnach and then allowed a single to Jeffers, moving Larnach to second base and scoring Castro, putting the Twins up 5-0.

Pirates manager Don Kelly took out Burrows after just 56 pitches and 1.1 innings pitched, bringing in left-handed pitcher Génesis Cabrera.

Cabrera gave up a double to Lee, scoring Larnach and extending the Twins' advantage to 6-0. He would get two groundouts, ending the home team's rally.

Burrows ended his worst start of the season with six earned runs allowed, as he allowed six runs combined over his four previous outings.

Cabrera continued the pitching struggles for the Pirates in the bottom of the third inning, walking France and allowing a single to Clemens.

He gave up a run on each of the next three batters, as Buxton hit a ground-rule double, scoring France, Castro singled, scoring Clemens and Larnach hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Buxton, pushing the lead for Minnesota to 9-0.

The Pirates eventually got something going offensively in the top of the fourth inning, as designated hitter Andrew McCutchen walked, right fielder Bryan Reynolds singled and then McCutchen scored on an error, making the score 9-1.

Left fielder Jack Suwinski would hit his first home run of the season for the Pirates, as he crushed a curveball 408 feet to right field to lead off the top of the fifth inning, making it a 9-2 deficit.

Right-handed relief pitcher Yohan Ramírez made his season debut for the Pirates after they called him up on July 11. He threw two scoreless innings after replacing Cabrera, while posting four strikeouts.

Left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney would come out of the bullpen for the Pirates in the bottom of the sixth inning and gave up a solo home run to Wallner, as the Twins reached double-digits, 10-2.

Center fielder Oneil Cruz ledoff the top of the seventh inning with a walk and took second base on a wild pitch. Catcher Joey Bart singled, scoring Cruz and making it seven-run deficit for the Pirates, 10-3.

Buxton and Castro then hit back-to-back home runs off of Heaney in the bottom of the seventh inning, as the Twins extended their advantage to 10-3.

This completed the cycle for Buxton, becoming the first player in the MLB this season that did so and the first ever player at Target Field, since its opening in 2010.

Minnesota hitting four home runs ties the season-high allowed by Pittsburgh, making it six times this season they've done so, most recently in their 9-3 defeat vs. the Royals on July 7.

First baseman Spencer Horwitz ledoff the top of the eighth inning with a walk, took second base on a wild pitch and scored off a single from second baseman Nick Gonzales, as the Pirates trimmed their deficit to 12-4.

Cruz would depart the game early, after limping on a single later in the inning, with Tommy Pham coming on as a pinch-runner.

Right-handed pitcher David Bednar made just his second appearance for the Pirates during this road trip, as he threw a scoreless eighth inning.

The Pirates will face the Twins one last time in the series, as they try and avoid the sweep on July 13. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m.