PITTSBURGH (Interstat) — Bryan Reynolds hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, lifting the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins at PNC Park.

The Pirates erased an early deficit and won their second straight game, improving to 30-28. Minnesota fell to 27-31.

A crowd of 27,107 watched the game, which lasted 3 hours.

The Twins struck first. Kody Clemens led off the top of the first inning with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead. The Pirates answered immediately in the bottom half. Brandon Lowe walked, Reynolds walked, and Nick Gonzales singled on a soft ground ball to third baseman Brooks Lee. Lee’s throwing error allowed Lowe to score, and Reynolds advanced to third. Oneil Cruz grounded out, scoring Reynolds, and Konnor Griffin singled home Gonzales, putting Pittsburgh ahead 3-1.

Minnesota regained the lead in the second. Trevor Larnach singled, Austin Martin walked and Victor Caratini walked to load the bases. Tristan Gray singled to center, scoring Larnach and Martin and tying the game 3-3. The Pirates turned a double play to end the inning.

The Twins added two more in the third. Josh Bell singled, and Larnach hit his third home run of the season to right field, scoring Bell and giving Minnesota a 5-3 lead.

Pittsburgh cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the third when Cruz homered, his 12th of the year.

The game remained 5-4 through the middle innings, with both bullpens holding the line. Wilber Dotel was particularly effective for the Pirates, tossing three scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out four. Eric Orze worked 1.2 scoreless innings for the Twins, also striking out three.

In the ninth, the Twins failed to add insurance. Gregory Soto pitched a perfect top of the inning, striking out one.

The Pirates mounted their winning rally in the bottom of the ninth. Spencer Horwitz singled off Twins reliever Taylor Rogers. After Brandon Lowe struck out, Reynolds stepped to the plate and launched his sixth homer of the season to left field, scoring Horwitz and ending the game.

Rogers took the loss, falling to 1-2. Soto earned his fourth win without a loss.

Reynolds finished 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Cruz also had two RBIs on his solo homer. Larnach led the Twins with two hits, including the two-run homer, and drove in two.

Each team collected eight hits.

The Twins, who had lost four of their previous five games, will face the Pirates again Saturday in the second game of the series. The Pirates, who won three of their last four, will send their ace to the mound.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Minnesota 7, Pittsburgh 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Pittsburgh a 56.40 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The combined total of 11 runs went over the over-under line of 8.