Jacob Stallings breaks up J.A. Happ's no-hit bid in 8th, but Twins blank Pirates

For seven innings, J.A. Happ no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates, the deepest the Minnesota Twins 38-year-old left-hander had gone in a game without allowing a hit.

As Happ’s pitch count inched toward the century mark, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli had Tyler Duffey start warming up in the bullpen. With one out in the eighth, Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings smacked a double down the left-field line to break up the no-hitter.

The Pirates failed to get another, as the Twins took advantage of a pair of solo home runs to beat the Pirates, 2-0, Friday night at Target Field.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton said he was “definitely paying attention” to Happ’s pitch count – which reached 95 – and, as a former Twins bench coach, was thinking along with Baldelli through the situations. Shelton complimented Happ for inducing weak contact and going back and forth between using his four-seam fastball and mixing a front-door two-seamer effectively against the Pirates’ right-handed hitters.

“He was just effective,” Shelton said of Happ. “Honestly, if you like well-pitched baseball games, it was a well-pitched game. If you like well-played defensive games, I don’t know if we played a better game all year than we played. … It was a good baseball game. We just came out on the short end because Happ kept us off balance.”

Happ nearly lost his no-hit bid in the fifth but it was preserved by a controversial call. Wilmer Difo appeared to beat the throw on a two-out comebacker. The ball skipped off Happ, who recovered to make the throw from the ground to first. Difo was called out for batter interference for running out of the lane – the third such call against the Pirates this season.

“That’s a tough play. That rule sucks,” Shelton said. “I don’t think anybody likes that rule, and I’m not saying they got the play wrong, because, from what I’m hearing, they got the play right. The umpires were great about it and had a nice explanation and did a really nice job. I just think the rule is poorly worded because of the fact that the base is in fair territory and if you run at the base, then you’re out. I mean Happ threw that ball from his butt, and we get called out on it. I think the call was right. I think it’s more I don’t like the rule.”

Stallings was dealing with his own hitless streak – one that stretch 19 at bats – when he came to the plate with one out in the eighth. Stallings worked Happ to a 3-2 count on six pitches before hitting the double, drawing a sigh of relief from the Pirates and a standing ovation from the 9,541 at Target Field when Happ got the hook.

“I was having fun that at-bat, honestly,” Stallings said. “Crowd was pretty loud, probably the loudest that we’ve heard in a little while. I don’t know. I just didn’t feel much pressure, to be honest with you. I feel like in that situation, all the pressure’s on the pitcher. I just wanted, honestly, to make him work. I took the first pitch, probably pretty similar to the one I hit. I just wanted to have a good at-bat and just grind it out and see what can happen. … I was kind of enjoying it, to be honest with you.”

Duffey replaced Happ, Difo followed by drawing a walk and both runners advanced when Kevin Newman grounded out to short. But Duffey struck out Adam Frazier to get out of the jam.

The Pirates (9-11) prevented Happ from becoming the ninth pitcher to no-hit them in team history. Chicago White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito tossed a no-hitter against the Pirates last Aug. 25, striking out 13 and walking one in a 4-0 win at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

The Twins (7-11) had lost nine of 10 games dating to April 10, dropping series against Seattle and Boston – covid-19 postponed two games against the Los Angeles Angels and one by the Oakland A’s – before losing the last three to the A’s.

JT Brubaker retired the first eight batters he faced before Willians Astudillo swung at a 1-2 four-seamer that was at his eye level and drove it 376 feet to left field for a home run and 1-0 lead in the third.

“At first, it was, OK, tip my hat, it was up out of the zone, it’s where I wanted it and he clipped it,” Brubaker said. “And then they showed the replay on the big screen out there. It was actually higher than I thought it was, and I’m just like, ‘Wow.’ He was cheating to it and got it.”

Brubaker got out of a jam in the fourth, when a one-out single by Nelson Cruz was followed by some bad luck. Byron Buxton hit a pop fly down the first base line that dropped between first baseman Todd Frazier and right fielder Difo. Buxton then got an infield single when he beat the throw on a grounder to second base. With runners on first and second, Brubaker got Alex Kirilloff to fly out to center and Jorge Polanco to ground out to second to end the inning.

Jake Cave took another Brubaker four-seamer for a ride in the fifth, hitting a solo shot to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Brubaker allowed five hits and no walks with five strikeouts on 79 pitches in seven innings, the longest outing of his major league career.

The Pirates managed only that one hit by Stallings, as Duffey finished the eighth and Taylor Rogers retired the final two batters of the ninth for the save on a night that belonged to Happ.

“I mean, looking back on it now, it’s something pitchers dream of,” Brubaker said. “There’s only a select few that have perfect games and no-hitters. So once the game’s over and everything, it was cool. But, still, you’re wanting your offense to go out, hit, put up numbers. You’ve got to tip your cap to Happ. He was on. It’s just one of those things.”