Mitch Keller strikes out 10, Pirates draw bases-loaded walk to beat Brewers

A night after Milwaukee won on a walk-off home run, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Brewers when they walked the winning run home.

Mitch Keller had a career-high 10 strikeouts, Rodolfo Castro drew a bases-loaded, four-pitch walk and Oneil Cruz doubled to add an insurance run for a 4-2 win Tuesday night at American Family Field.

“It’s awesome,” Keller said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “It gives us that feeling of what it’s like to play playoff baseball and what it feels like coming down the stretch, even though we’re not really in it.

“Just to get that feeling of, this team is a really good team and they’re in the race, it should be a good thing for us. Hopefully all of us can realize, ‘This is a good team and we’ve been with them neck and neck the past couple nights. We’re right there.’”

Batting leadoff, Cruz went 2 for 4 with a run-scoring single and double to boost his total to 35 RBIs in 57 games this season. Michael Chavis also went 2 for 4 with two runs, including a home run. Manny Banuelos tossed 1 ⅓ scoreless innings to get the win and Chase De Jong got the final five outs to earn his first major league save – and first as a pro.

Keller threw a career-high 105 pitches in six innings, walking two batters in the first inning and giving up all four hits and two runs in the fourth. After relying on his sinker for much of the season, he threw 44 four-seam fastballs at an average of 96 mph.

“He just seemed to get stronger as the game went on,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “I thought his stuff was really good. He made the one mistake to Wong. He threw him a good curveball earlier in that at-bat. That one just didn’t break where he wanted it to. Overall, his stuff was as good as we’ve seen it.”

In a spot start for the Brewers, rookie right-hander Jason Alexander allowed one run on three hits and a walk while striking out six. Alexander struck out five of the first seven batters he faced before putting runners on first and second when Tucupita Marcano drew a full-count walk and Jason Delay was hit by a pitch.

When Cruz hit a line drive to right to score Marcano for a 1-0 lead, the Pirates appeared poised for a big inning. Bryan Reynolds followed with a single to center to load the bases, but Alexander got Ke’Bryan Hayes to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to escape.

Keller didn’t allow a hit through the first three innings. Then Hunter Renfroe hit a leadoff single in the fourth and Kolten Wong sent a 2-2 curveball 379 feet into the visiting bullpen in right to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead. Keller gave up back-to-back singles to Andrew McCutchen and Jace Peterson before striking out Victor Caratini and Garrett Mitchell, then retired the next six batters in order.

“After he gave up the homer, there was no panic,” Shelton said. “He continued to execute pitches. And his stuff continued to get better. That’s just a sign of him maturing as a pitcher.”

Chavis tied it at 2-2 in the seventh with his 14th home run, a 417-foot solo shot to left off Matt Bush. Chavis was more impressed with Keller’s performance, especially the way he responded in the fifth and sixth.

“That was incredible,” Chavis said. “He gave up that two-run homer but, besides that, he was immaculate. That was great to see. The velo was there. The breaking ball was working great today. And I liked his confidence on the mound.”

The Pirates took the lead in the eighth, when Brad Boxberger loaded the bases by sandwiching walks to Cruz and Ben Gamel around a Bryan Reynolds single, then walked Castro to score Cruz for the go-ahead run.

“Rudy’s at-bat, even though it’s a four-pitch walk, in that situation (you have a) young kid trying to do something big there. He stayed under control,” Shelton said. “You go to Tucupita’s bunt to put us in a position to do that. Just a lot of positive signs. If you’re a Pirates fan, those are things that make you excited when you see the kids do things like that.”

The Pirates were positioned to score again in the ninth, when Chavis hit a leadoff single to left off Peter Strzelecki, advanced to second on Tucupita Marcano’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Cruz’s double to left-center for a 4-2 lead.

After getting the final two outs in the eighth, De Jong gave up a leadoff double to Wong and a single to Keston Hiura to put runners on first and third with no outs. De Jong got McCutchen to pop out to Cruz in shallow left and Luis Urias to ground into a spectacular double play that saw Castro throw to Cruz, who fired a laser to Chavis to end it.

“They rose to the occasion,” De Jong said, “and turned a phenomenal double play for me to end the game.”