Andrew McCutchen's homer lifts Pirates over Giants, whose late rally comes up short

Less than three full days until the trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent Mitch Keller to the hill against the Giants in what potentially could be his final start with the club.

Keller, a 2014 draft pick by Pittsburgh and the most tenured member of the Pirates, has certainly performed in a manner befitting an enticing trade candidate of late, with a 2.10 ERA this month.

What the ensuing days hold for Keller remains to be seen, but he was not at his best Monday, as he lasted a season-low two innings in an eventual 6-5 win at Orace Park in San Francisco.

A two-run homer by Andrew McCutchen in the seventh was the difference for the Pirates (45-62).

After McCutchen had broken a 4-4 tie, Isaac Mattson, Dennis Santana and David Bednar came on to pitch the final three frames.

Bednar allowed three hits and an earned run for the first time since May 23, but recorded his 17th save.

“We needed that as a ballclub,” McCutchen said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Obviously, Mitch not being able to do what he normally does for us — that happens. It’s the name of the game and it’s why you have teammates that have your back. The bullpen did their job today. Kudos to those guys. I was glad we were able to just get some run support there for them and give ourselves a chance to win the game.”

Monday constituted only the fourth time in 153 starts in which Keller lasted two innings or less.

He labored intensely over his two frames, throwing 73 pitches (42 strikes) and allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Carson Whisenhunt, opposing Keller and making his MLB debut for the Giants, pitched five innings, allowing four runs while taking a no-decision.

Nick Gonzales got Whisenhunt’s debut off to a rough start, as he lifted an 83 mph changeup over the left field stands for a solo homer, putting the Pirates up 1-0 in the first.

The Giants struck back in the bottom of the first, tying the game on an RBI triple from Matt Chapman, whose hit into right field eluded a diving Alexander Canario and scored Heliot Ramos, who singled.

By the time Keller finally escaped the frame, he was at 34 pitches.

Whisenhunt struggled with command in the second, walking Canario and Liover Peguero.

The free passes then came back to hurt him, as Isiah Kiner-Falefa, another possible trade target, plated them both with an RBI double off the center field wall.

Tommy Pham then made it 4-1 by driving in Kiner-Falefa from second with an RBI single.

Things did not improve for Keller in the second, as Mike Yastrzemski walked, Patrick Bailey singled and Brett Wisely made it 4-2 with a ground-rule double.

After Keller walked Rafael Devers to load the bases with one out, Willy Adames produced an RBI single to trim the Pirates’ lead to 4-3, re-loading the bases again.

Keller managed to strike out Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee, averting any more damage, but his night was soon over.

“Fastball command just wasn’t there,” manager Don Kelly said. “Very uncharacteristic. He’s been so good. The two larger pitch count innings there, it seemed like the fastball just wasn’t as sharp today.”

Genesis Cabrera succeeded Keller on the mound and, in the fourth, allowed a double to Ramos, who took third on a Devers groundout.

Kelly then opted to insert Yohan Ramirez, but Adames soon tied the game with an RBI single into left field.

Ramirez, Monday’s winning pitcher, plunked Chapman and walked Lee to load the bases, but got a groundout by Wilmer Flores to get out of the frame.

Following a scoreless sixth, McCutchen broke the tie in the seventh, lifting a two-run homer to left field off Carson Seymour to put the Pirates up 6-4.

McCutchen’s 10th homer of the year scored Pham, who reached base for the third time with a walk.

In the seventh, Mattson preserved the two-run lead with a clean inning, striking out a pair.

Santana allowed a leadoff single to Bailey in the eighth, but recovered to record three straight flyouts.

Bednar’s ninth inning was shaky, as Adames led off with a double and scored on a Lee single before Flores also singled, putting two men on with an out and the score 6-5.

But Bednar recovered to notch the save, No. 101 of his career.

“That was a great win,” Kelly said. “Just battling, getting up early, they tie it up and Cutch comes up with a big home run. Bullpen was unbelievable coming in and filling seven innings. Did a great job on a lot of levels.”