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Gritty pitching, slam lift Bucs to 4-0 start

PITTSBURGH -- Jameson Taillon recorded 16 outs for the Pirates on Monday afternoon. They needed 11 more to extend their season-opening winning streak, and they had to get them without closer Felipe Rivero.

After a shaky sixth inning shrunk Pittsburgh's lead from five runs to one, the young Bucs bullpen stepped up. Dovydas Neverauskas escaped one jam in the sixth and another in the seventh, Michael Feliz overcame his own mistakes in the eighth, and George Kontos picked up his second career save to seal the Pirates' 5-4 win over the Twins in the Bucs' home opener, improving Pittsburgh to 4-0 on the year.