Trevor Cahill throws 6 strong innings, as Pirates beat Twins

Nothing about the Trevor Cahill-Michael Perez battery should have given the Pittsburgh Pirates high hopes, given the right-hander twice had allowed seven runs and the catcher had one hit all season.

Instead, Cahill made it as easy as 1-2-3 and Perez went 3 for 3 with three RBIs to lead the Pirates to a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon at Target Field.

Cahill got 10 groundouts and retired the side in order in five of six innings, as he allowed one run on two hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts.

“This is the first time I’ve worked (with) Mikey since spring training,” Cahill said, “but he’s caught me a lot in the bullpen, so I think we were on the same page, and he did a great job calling the game — and hitting.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton credited Cahill (1-2) for how he kept the Twins off-balance by mixing his curveball (30), changeup and cutter (22) in throwing 54 of his 68 pitches for strikes to earn his first win with the Pirates and the 86th of his 13-year major league career.

“Trevor Cahill was outstanding,” Shelton said. “I mean, this guy is a veteran guy. He understands how to pitch. He understands how to use his stuff. Obviously, he had much better feel for his breaking ball and was able to execute it. I thought he did a nice job getting some early-count outs by executing pitches that stayed off the barrel, which is extremely important. It made him efficient.”

Perez had one hit in his first 18 at-bats but delivered a two-run double, a solo home run, a single and a walk to boost his batting average from .053 to .190.

“Today was special,” Perez said. “There was something about me today that felt beyond comfortable, beyond confident.”

Shelton was impressed with how Perez handled himself behind the plate and hitting, as his aggressive swings that led to fly balls at Detroit landed for hits against the Twins.

“When you’re a guy who’s the second catcher, it’s hard to get in a rhythm,” Shelton said, “so (it’s) just finding at-bats, finding his timing.”

After being one-hit Friday night, the Pirates (10-11) put themselves in position to win a third consecutive series as they finish the 10-day, nine-game road trip. With right-hander Chad Kuhl on the 10-day injured list, Wil Crowe is expected to start against the Twins on Sunday, which would require a corresponding move on the 26-man roster.

A day after J.A. Happ took a no-hitter against them into the eighth inning, the Pirates scored three runs in the second, when shortstop Jorge Polanco’s errant throw on a grounder by Todd Frazier allowed Erik Gonzalez to score. Perez followed with a two-run double to right for a 3-0 lead.

The Twins (7-12) answered with a run off Cahill in the bottom of the second, when Jake Cave hit a two-out double to left-center to score Polanco and cut it to 3-1. It was the only extra-base hit allowed by Cahill, who then walked Ryan Jeffers to load the bases but got Luis Arraez to fly out to center to end the inning.

Cahill retired the final 13 batters he faced.

“I didn’t even know. … I mean, I just try and get outs,” Cahill said. “I didn’t even really realize that’s what was going on.”

Perez led off the fifth with a 408-foot shot to right field, and Kevin Newman followed with a 400-foot blast to left-center for back-to-back homers and a 5-1 lead. It was the first homer of the season for both Perez and Newman, who batted eighth and ninth in the order.

The Pirates added another run off Devin Smeltzer in the sixth.

Frazier was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a single by Perez and right fielder Cave’s subsequent errant throw and scored on a sacrifice fly by Newman.

Cave ended the Twins’ futility with a leadoff double in the eighth. Left fielder Phillip Evans, who wasn’t wearing sunglasses, lost an Arraez fly ball in the sun. Center fielder Bryan Reynolds gave Evans his sunglasses, only to have Josh Donaldson follow with a sacrifice fly to center to score Cave and cut it to 6-2.

Perez missed hitting for the cycle when he drew a walk to lead off the ninth, but was more “joyful” for Cahill’s performance than his own.

“He did amazing to give us those six innings,” Perez said through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “Everything for him was working. I believe the key for us and our chemistry was our preparation. Prior to the game, we met up, we communicated well, we came up with a plan, we went out there and executed, and we came out with a victory.”