Mitch Keller's strong start provides cushion for struggling bullpen in Pirates' 8-6 victory

Reliability has not been the hallmark of the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, but Mitch Keller looks like the exception.

Keller started and pitched through the sixth inning Monday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee, extending to 40 games his MLB-leading streak of lasting at least five innings.

That was certainly worth noting, but it was not the most noteworthy occurrence in another wild night of baseball that ended in the Pirates’ second high-scoring victory in three days, 8-6, against the Brewers. They defeated the Chicago Cubs, 10-9, Saturday.

Uneasy is the best way to describe the final three innings Monday when a 5-0 Pirates lead in the bottom of the seventh inning turned into a 7-6 advantage entering the ninth.

Bryan Reynolds stole the spotlight from Keller, collecting the first five-hit game of his career — ripping two singles, two doubles and topping it off with a home run in the ninth for 10 total bases and an 8-6 lead entering the bottom of the ninth.

The homer provided breathing room for David Bednar, who worked his third game in as many days, to collect his eighth save with a 1-2-3 inning.

It also was the Pirates’ 10th home run in the past three games and the 12th of their 13 hits Monday.

“That was back and forth and wow,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Offensively, we did a really good job and prevailed. I thought we swung the bats really well.”

The Brewers (25-16), who are in first place in the National League Central, stranded two runners in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings while Keller struck out seven batters and walked no one. He allowed eight hits — seven were singles — while throwing 71 strikes among his 100 pitches.

The game was Keller’s third in his past four in which he reached triple-digit pitches. It also was his fourth quality start of the season (six innings, three runs or fewer). He has allowed only one run in his past 15 innings, with 12 strikeouts and one walk.

With the Pirates (19-23) going with a six-man starting rotation and the bullpen struggling, Shelton admitted “we’re grinding a little bit through it.”

He hinted a move to bolster the bullpen may be coming soon.

“The biggest thing today was Mitch,” Shelton said. “He got squared up pretty good in the second. That did cause a little concern. The one thing I really appreciate is he emptied the tank in the sixth. You saw him really have to go out after the middle of their order and do a really good job to get it. We needed those six innings.”

Said Keller: “I know we’re kind of thin. (I was) going out there giving everything I’ve got.”

Entering the sixth, he noticed his pitch count was in the 90s, and he knew it was his last inning. So, he said he focused on finishing strong.

But perhaps his biggest moment was striking out Christian Yelich (.350 batting average) in the fifth with an 88.8 mph slider while two were on base.

“It felt really good,” Keller said. “Getting him out there is huge. He’s Christian Yelich. It’s always a confidence boost to let you know your stuff is playing really well. It’s always fun going against the best and getting them out, too.”

Keller’s effort was especially impressive, coming in the first start after his complete game shutout of the Los Angeles Angels on May 6. He threw 109 pitches that night and has at least 100 in three of his past four games.

“Even the day after the complete game, it’s back to work,” he said. “And how can I recover the best, get my body to be in the best spot I can be to perform? That’s the goal throughout the week. (Tuesday), same thing. Get ready for Chicago (the Cubs this weekend).

”I take a lot of pride in my mid-week work to be (as much) on top of my game as I can be out there.”

After Keller left the game, Josh Fleming surrendered a two-run double to Willy Adames in the seventh to end the shutout bid. The Pirates caught a break when Adames, trying to stretch the hit into a triple, was nailed at third by Oneil Cruz’s 93.9 mph relay throw to Jared Triolo. Reynolds, playing right field, earned an assist on the play, his MLB-leading sixth.

“I was telling Connor Joe, it seems kind of unfair that I get an assist out of that,” Reynolds said. “I threw it 75 feet to Cruz and he threw it 300 mph to third.”

The Pirates got the two runs back on Yasmani Grandal’s two-run homer, but the lead nearly vanished in the bottom of the eighth. Singles by Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick and an error by Cruz at shortstop preceded Jake Bauers’ grand slam off Fleming.

Nursing a one-run lead, Hunter Stratton relieved Fleming and struck out William Contreras and Yelich to end the threat. Yelich struck out four times Monday.

On the offensive side, every Pirates starter except Rowdy Tellez had a hit or scored a run, and Andrew McCutchen and Cruz (.368 this month) had two each. Cruz’s hits were clocked at 116.3 and 118.5 mph. The latter, a double, was the third-hardest hit ball by a Pirates player since Statcast started keeping track of such things.

Also, Jack Suwinski homered for the first time since April 14.

“We have to get Jack going. Jack’s a big part of our offense,” Shelton said.