Jameson Taillon made his Grapefruit League debut, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out two and walking none in four innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Minnesota Twins, however, used a five-run ninth inning to cruise to a 10-4 victory over the Pirates on Tuesday at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco hit a ground-rule double to right field off Taillon to drive in one run, then scored on designated hitter Tyler Austin’s groundout for a 2-0 lead in the first.
Starling Marte scored the Pirates’ first run on a throwing error by center fielder Michael Reed to make it 2-1. Polanco drove in another run in the third to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.
In the fourth, Marte doubled to score Adam Frazier in the third to make it 3-2. Frazier, who went 2 for 4, hit a two-out single to center to score Melky Cabrera and Jung Ho Kang for a 4-3 lead but Erik Gonzalez was thrown out at the plate.
The Twins tied it on Austin’s homer off Jordan Lyles in the sixth and took a 5-4 lead on Sawyer’s double to right off Michael Feliz to score Navaretto in the eighth. They added five more in the ninth off Tyler Lyons, including a bases-clearing triple by LaMonte Wade.
In a minor-league game, Pirates right fielder Gregory Polanco went 1 for 4 with a walk in five plate appearances.
The Pirates are off Wednesday. Trevor Williams is expected to start against the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 p.m. Thursday in Bradenton, with Francisco Liriano, Nick Burdi, Clay Holmes and Brandon Maurer also scheduled to pitch.
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