The Minnesota Twins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Wednesday night in the second game of a three-game series.
Francisco Liriano worked into the seventh inning for the first time, pitching six and two-thirds innings and giving up only four hits and one earned run. He had six strikeouts.
Trevor Plouffe gave Minnesota an early 1-0 lead with an RBI-single in the first inning. It took until the seventh for the Pirates to tie it up on a sac fly from Rod Barajas.
The Twins retook the lead for good in the eighth on a solo home run from Josh Willingham, his 14th of the season.
Glen Perkins got his first save of the year and third of his career for Minnesota. Regular closer Matt Capps is out with shoulder inflammation.
The third game of the series is Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
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