Bryan Reynolds' walk-off blast lifts Pirates past Twins

Bryan Reynolds’ two-run walk-off home run lifted the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Reynolds’ sixth home run of the season came with one out in the ninth off Twins reliever Taylor Rogers (1-2) and represented his second career walk-off home run and fourth walk-off hit.

The 422-foot blast cleared the left field fence and brought in Tyler Callihan ahead of him. Callihan was pinch running for Spencer Horwitz, who led off the inning with an infield single to short.

The rally erased what appeared destined to be a disappointing night for the Pirates, who welcomed back starting pitcher Jared Jones for his first appearance since September 27, 2024, after undergoing right elbow internal brace surgery.

Jones struck out six during his 4 1/3-inning sting, but he allowed seven hits, two walks and all five Minnesota runs. Trevor Larnach had two hits, including a two-run homer in the third that put the Twins ahead 5-4.

The Twins suffered their third consecutive loss in manager Derek Shelton’s return to Pittsburgh a year and three weeks after he was fired by the Pirates following a 12-26 start to the 2025 season.

Gregory Soto (4-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the deficit at one run after Pittsburgh failed to score in the eighth despite placing runners on second and third with no outs.

Kody Clemens hit his sixth home run of the season off Jones with two outs in the first to put the Twins ahead 1-0.

The Pirates answered in the bottom of the first with three runs, highlighted by RBI singles from Nick Gonzales and Konnor Griffin. Griffin returned to the Pirates’ lineup as a designated hitter after sitting out Thursday’s game with a low-grade flexor muscle strain.

Minnesota tied the game in the second on a two-run single by Tristan Gray.

Josh Bell started the Twins’ go-ahead rally with a two-out single in the third that was followed by Larnach’s homer to right.

Oneil Cruz’s solo homer in the bottom of the third off Twins starter Taj Bradley cut the deficit to 5-4. Bradley allowed five hits and four runs over four innings.

–Field Level Media