Rowdy Tellez shakes slump, homers as Pittsburgh Pirates win
PITTSBURGH — Rowdy Tellez homered and drove in three runs, and six Pittsburgh relievers kept the Twins in check as the Pirates beat Minnesota 4-0 on Saturday.
Tellez, who has been frequently booed at home of late while in the throes of a seasonlong funk, turned on a changeup from Simeon Woods Richardson and dropped it just over the center-field wall with one out in the seventh for his first homer since March 31.
Hunter Stratton (2-1) picked up the win thanks to a spectacular catch by second baseman Nick Gonzales to end the seventh. Minnesota had two on with two out when pinch-hitter Manuel Margot hit a flare into shallow center field that Gonzales tracked down to make a sliding over-the-shoulder grab.
“It’s kind of one of those in that situation if it drops it changes the ballgame, so I was just running at it,” Gonzales said.
Michael A. Taylor, back from paternity leave following the birth of his son on June 2, delivered an RBI single in the eighth. Andrew McCutchen had three hits for the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds had two to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
The Twins have dropped five straight after being shut out for the second consecutive game. Minnesota will take a 22-inning scoreless streak into Sunday’s series finale. The Twins had six hits — all singles — and only one player reached third base.
“Just have to go out there and hit some balls hard,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s the simplest way of saying it. Some of this is probably mental at this point and not the physical aspect of going out there trying to hit a line drive.”
The lack of offense spoiled another solid start by Woods Richardson (2-1). The 23-year-old rookie struck out six against one walk and made just one real mistake that Tellez turned into a cathartic blast.
“Sim was phenomenal,” Baldelli said. “I thought he was on top of his game.”
The Pirates, who have three starting pitchers — Martin Perez, Marco Gonzales and Quinn Priester — on the injured list, were forced to rely exclusively on their bullpen.
Carmen Mlodzinski got the first five outs before giving way to Luis Ortiz, who was in the mix to earn the fifth spot in the starting rotation during spring training before being sent to the bullpen.
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