It’s been a rough August for Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller, who, entering his start Tuesday at Globe Life Field against the Texas Rangers, had allowed 15 runs and as many hits over his last two appearances.
Keller’s individual woes were emblematic of the Pirates’ as a club through a brutal 10-game losing streak that recently came to an end thanks to a series win at home against the Seattle Mariners.
The Pirates sent Keller to the hill in the second of three against the Rangers. This time, he looked like an ace, delivering seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory.
Keller (11-7, 3.76 ERA) matched a season high in strikeouts (nine), walked none and allowed only three hits, throwing 73 of his 98 pitches for strikes.
He dueled Rangers starter Cody Bradford, who allowed three runs over seven innings, striking out eight.
“We kind of reassessed – his last two (starts) weren’t what he wanted, so we kind of (bore) down and I think we just put the pressure on (Texas),” catcher Joey Bart said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show.
“He was on full-on attack all day and had all his stuff working. A guy with stuff like that, when he’s throwing strikes and putting pressure on guys, he’s tough to hit.”
After Keller and Bradford were perfect through the game’s first three innings, the Pirates (59-66) took a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
Connor Joe appeared to get the Pirates on the board first, ripping a two-out triple into right field, scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who singled.
But upon a review, Joe was sent back to second with a ground-rule double after the ball was ruled to have left the field of play, with Kiner-Falefa placed on third base.
Bryan De La Cruz got it done for the Pirates shortly thereafter, scoring Joe and Kiner-Falefa with an RBI single to put his club ahead 2-0.
That brought Oneil Cruz to the plate, and he promptly hit a triple off the center-field wall to score De La Cruz, handing the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
Keller allowed his first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth, a two-out single to Josh Smith, but struck out Adolis Garcia to end the inning.
After a 1-2-3 fifth, Keller tossed a scoreless sixth, battling back from a Carson Kelly leadoff single.
The Pirates stuck with Keller in the seventh and he did not disappoint, striking out a pair.
“He was outstanding, in control the whole game,” said manager Derek Shelton. “We had talked about the two previous outings and with Mitch, that was just a little blip. He came out, he was really strong, he controlled the zone – very impressive outing.”
Keller allowed a leadoff single to Josh Jung in the eighth, leading Shelton to pull him in favor of Aroldis Chapman, who quickly recorded a double play before getting out of the frame.
The Pirates added an insurance run in the ninth, taking a 4-0 lead when Jared Triolo singled home Rowdy Tellez, who got aboard with a pinch-hit double.
In the ninth, David Bednar came in and pitched an easy frame, closing the door.
