Snell finally wins, McCutchen homers and LaRoche brothers go deep as Pirates top Twins 8-2

Snell wins, McCutchen homers, Bucs top Twins 8-2

MINNEAPOLIS — Ian Snell won for the first time in two months and Andrew McCutchen hit his first major league home run, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates past Francisco Liriano and the Minnesota Twins 8-2 Wednesday night.

McCutchen and Andy LaRoche each hit two-run shots against Liriano (2-8), who lasted seven innings but hurt himself again with a couple of costly lapses in pitch location. Adam LaRoche also homered for Pittsburgh, in a three-run eighth against reliever Sean Henn.

Like Liriano, Snell (2-7) has regressed since his first full season in 2006. He hasn’t received much run support this year, but after a rough May and a so-so start to June the right-hander came through with a sharp performance: six innings, five hits, three walks and just two runs.

Joe Mauer doubled and scored, but even the .425-hitting Minnesota catcher made two outs against Snell after racking up four hits the night before. Mauer has hit in 37 of 43 games he’s played in this season.

After the Twins peppered starter Paul Maholm for 14 hits over five innings of Tuesday’s victory, Snell was much stingier. Joe Crede’s two-out, two-run double tied it at 2 atoning for his first-inning-ending flyout with two on, but Liriano soon lost the lead.

Snell helped himself in the sixth by making a leaping stop of Delmon Young’s chop over the mound and then catching Michael Cuddyer in a rundown after he hit a one-out triple. Against reliever John Grabow in the seventh, the Twins loaded the bases with one out and couldn’t score. Crede bounced one back toward the mound to end that threat.

Liriano was awful in May, too, and he turned a corner with two quality starts on the last road trip.

But he continues to have trouble during the second time through the lineup, and he can’t dominate the way he did as a rookie before his elbow problem flared up.

Adam LaRoche led off the fourth with a double and was nearly thrown out from right field by the rocket-armed Cuddyer, but shortstop Brendan Harris dropped the one-hopper at second base. Liriano struck out the next two batters, but he left a fastball over the plate that Andy LaRoche sent into the left-field seats for a 4-2 lead.

NOTES: McCutchen, the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft, has a hit in 11 of 13 games since he was called up. … A group of Vikings assistants, including defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, mingled with coaches and players during batting practice. They joked to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire that, if Brett Favre decides not to end his retirement, they’ll try to entice Mauer to be their quarterback. “I love you, Vikings, but you’re not going to get my guy,” Gardenhire said. … Despite being put on the DL, Twins OF Denard Span was relieved by the diagnosis of an inner ear virus. He might try some swinging, throwing and running by the end of the week. … Pirates manager John Russell spent eight seasons as a minor-league skipper in the Twins’ system, where he briefly managed Cuddyer and Justin Morneau. … Pirates reliever Tyler Yates, on the DL with elbow inflammation, is in Florida for rehab but still a few weeks from being cleared to throw.