No relief as Pirates' losing skid reaches 10 after bullpen blows lead against Marlins

Whether they went down swinging or looking, the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t stop striking out against Braxton Garrett.

While the Miami left-hander recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts, Mitch Keller protected a one-run lead by mowing down the Marlins for seven innings.

Once their duel was done, the bats took over.

After the Pirates got solo home runs from rookie Henry Davis and Ke’Bryan Hayes in the eighth inning, the Marlins answered with a five-run rally in the bottom of the eighth, capped by Garrett Cooper’s three-run homer for a 6-4 comeback win Thursday night at loanDepot Park.

It was the 10th consecutive loss for the Pirates (34-40), whose bullpen blew a late lead for the fifth time during the streak. It matches their worst losing streak since 2021, when they lost 10 in a row from June 6-16.

“Every loss stings but, yeah, this one hurts a little bit, just because we had the lead and to lose it like that, it (stinks). It definitely (stinks). It stings a little bit,” Keller said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “But we can’t keep thinking about it. We’ve got to move on. (Friday) is a new day. We’ve got to act like we’re on a 10-game winning streak. We’ve got to come out and play with some swagger, just a different attitude.”

Keller allowed one run on five hits and five strikeouts without a walk in tying a career-high with 107 pitches in seven innings, the eighth time he’s thrown 100 or more pitches this season.

“Definitely trying to have a good start and give us a chance to win,” Keller said. “I just came out with a good game plan to go deep as I can in the game. There were opportunities for quick outs. Just go out there and put a good start out there, give us a chance to win. That’s all I was trying to do. That’s what my mindset was.”

Shelton called Keller’s outing “outstanding.”

“It’s exactly what we needed,” Shelton said. “Frustrating that we weren’t able to finish it for him.”

Garrett went seven innings while allowing two runs on three hits in seven innings, mixing a cutter, sinker and slider. Of his 13 strikeouts, five were looking. Garrett threw 63 of his 88 pitches for strikes, generating 37 called strikes and whiffs.

“We know he’s a strikeout guy,” Shelton said of Garrett. “The sinker was elite. It had a ton of movement. He executed it on both sides of the plate. Mitch matched him pitch for pitch. We were in position to win, and we didn’t.”

The Marlins (43-33) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Cooper doubled to right and advanced to third when Rodolfo Castro couldn’t scoop Jon Berti’s bouncer to short, which was scored a single but could have been an error. Instead of Keller getting the final out, Joey Wendle hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Cooper.

Garrett struck out five consecutive Pirates batters in the first two innings, then hit Davis in the foot with a pitch to start the third. But Ji Hwan Bae grounded into a forceout at second, and Austin Hedges grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

After Garrett got Hayes and Andrew McCutchen looking at called third strikes with his sinker, Connor Joe hit an 0-2 slider for a single to shallow center in the fourth.

Carlos Santana followed by smacking a double past a diving Jonathan Davis in right-center to score Joe and make it 1-1. Santana then stole third base and scored for a 2-1 lead when catcher Nick Fortes’ throw bounced past Berti at third base and into left field for an error.

Cooper, who went 3 for 4, hit a two-out single through the middle in the fourth, but Santana might have saved a run when he snared a 104.9-mph grounder off Berti’s bat for the final out.

Garrett struck out the side in the fifth, running his total to 10 to tie his season best. After Hayes hit a one-out double in the sixth, Garrett broke his previous career high of 11 — which came in a 3-2 win over the Pirates last July 14 — by getting Joe swinging at a cutter for the final out.

Lefty Andrew Nardi replaced Garrett, only for Henry Davis to lead off the eighth by blasting a 1-1 slider 407 feet to left field at an exit velocity of 100.5 mph for his first career home run to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead. After hitting a double in his major-league debut, the 2021 MLB Draft No.1 overall pick had gone 0 for 10 with a walk and was hit twice by pitches before going deep for the first time.

It proved contagious, as Hayes hit a two-out, 370-foot shot to left for his fifth homer — his first since June 3 against St. Louis — and a 4-1 lead that appeared to be a safe cushion.

“That’s a game we have to finish,” Shelton said, “and we did not finish it.”

Shelton turned to righty reliever Dauri Moreta, who had allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings over his past two appearances, and the results were disastrous. Jonathan Davis led off the eighth with a double, Luis Arraez drew a five-pitch walk and Jorge Soler singled up the middle to load the bases.

It only got worse when Carmen Mlodzinski (0-1) replaced Moreta, and the rookie right-hander gave up a two-run single to Bryan De La Cruz that cut it to 4-3. Then Cooper sent a first-pitch fastball 413 feet to right-center for a three-run home run to give the Marlins a 6-4 lead.

A.J. Puk pitched a scoreless ninth for the Marlins to earn his 10th save.

“It’s a big spot. It’s where our bullpen is right now. We’re a little depleted down there, especially in leverage,” Shelton said of Mlodzinski, who made his fourth appearance. “Carmen’s thrown the ball well. It’s a tough spot for him. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”