Buxton singled in the first, tripled in the second, hit a ground-rule double in the third, singled in the fifth and homered late, becoming the first Twin to hit for the cycle since Jorge Polanco.

Buxton, who will participate in next week's Home Run Derby, crushed a 427-foot solo homer off Pirates reliever Andrew Heaney with two outs in the seventh to make it an 11-3 game and complete the cycl...

In his last five games he is batting .556 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, a walk and three RBIs.

Sportsbooks have tabbed the Twins (-145) as moneyline favorites against the Pirates (+118).

After winning six games in a row at home, the Pirates have lost six games in a row on the road.