Mitch Keller's troubles continue in Pirates' loss to Angels

Mitch Keller knows what he needs to do next.

“Hit the video room, see what’s going on,” he said Sunday on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show after his second consecutive shaky start led to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 7-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

“I have to get back to work.”

The Pirates’ loss, their 14th in 18 games in July, shattered a positive trend that gave the Pirates (43-56) hope before their game in Angel Stadium. Keller allowed eight runs to the Cleveland Guardians in his previous outing, and the maturity that turned Keller into the Pirates’ ace this season was expected to help him shake off adversity and return to his All-Star form.

After all, he was 2-0 with an 0.60 ERA in four starts immediately following a losing decision this year.

Then, he took the mound in Anaheim, and his troubles continued in a big way. The loss kept the last-place Pirates 11¹⁄₂ games off the lead in the National League Central, while the Angels improved to 51-49 in their quest to remain in contention for an American League playoff berth.

In his second start since the All-Star break, Keller (9-6) was rocked for three home runs, including Shohei Ohtani’s 36th and Andrew Velazquez’s first, while allowing six runs and nine hits in five innings. Keller did record seven strikeouts among his 101 pitches.

In three of his four starts in July, Keller has given up 19 runs (18 earned) and 27 hits, including six home runs.

“He hit a sweeper that I feel really comfortable throwing,” he said of Velazquez’s home run. “I’ve had success just throwing it really hard and letting the spin take care of it. He hit a very good swing on it, and it went over the fence. It’s not exactly where I wanted it, but it was the good pitch that I wanted. It felt really good off the hand. I had success with it earlier in the game, too.”

He said his video study will include “what’s different from the beginning of the year until now.”

Keller’s ERA, 2.86 at the end of May, ballooned to 4.01 as he left the game Sunday.

“I don’t know if we’re falling into patterns or something,” he said. “I have to go back and look and move forward.”

After July 8, Keller did not pitch for nine days, except for one inning in the All-Star Game on July 11. He said the change in routine has nothing to do with his slump.

“No, not at all. I feel really good,” he said. “I felt the best I’ve felt since the beginning of the year (Sunday).”

Manager Derek Shelton said Keller’s problems were partially the result of pitch selection.

“It looked like he got away from his fastball a little bit, and he had some situations where he could have used it and got beat with some secondary stuff,” the manager said.

That said, Shelton said Keller’s main problem was keeping the ball in the middle of the plate.

“When you stay in the middle of the plate in the big leagues, you’re going to get hit and that’s what happened,” he said. “He’s left more balls in good hitting zones, and when you leave the ball in the hitting zone, you’re going to get hit.”

Ohtani, who struck out six times with four walks in the three-game series against the Pirates, started the Angels’ outburst in the first inning with a shot over the center-field wall that left his bat at 112.9 mph. Keller surrendered another run on three hits in the second, and the Angels scored four times in the fifth.

Velazquez, who had played 25 games this season without a homer or RBI, cleared the low right-field wall to lead off the fifth. Luis Rengifo made it back-to-back homers before Keller walked Ohtani and gave up two singles and a sacrifice fly for a 6-1 Angels lead to turn a close game into what appeared to be a rout.

Rengifo homered again in the sixth against relief pitcher Angel Perdomo for a 7-1 advantage.

Those home runs shouldn’t be a surprise. The Angels lead the American League with 155.

Angels starter Tyler Anderson pitched well for six efficient innings, walking no one and allowing only Bryan Reynolds’ 422-foot home run in the first inning. It was Reynolds’ 10th of the season and first since July 5.

The Pirates added another run against Anderson in the seventh on Nick Gonzales’ single and Liover Peguero’s RBI double. Angels manager Phil Nevin pulled Anderson after he walked Austin Hedges, and Shelton responded by sending up pinch-hitter Jack Suwinski against right-handed reliever Jacob Webb.

Suwinski struck out, but the Pirates weren’t finished. With Peguero on third base and Andrew McCutchen at the plate, Peguero alertly raced home with the third Pirates run when a throw from catcher Matt Thaiss eluded Webb.

“He was heads-up and took the run,” Shelton said.

McCutchen walked, Carlos Santana’s double scored two more runs, and the Angels’ lead suddenly was only 7-5 with two innings to play.

The Pirates could crawl no closer, though. In the ninth, the Angels’ Carlos Estevez converted his 23rd save in 23 opportunities, striking out Suwinski, getting Reynolds to ground out and Santana to fly out to right field with McCutchen on base after a walk.

Anderson, who spent four months with the Pirates in 2021 before being traded to the Seattle Mariners for two players who are still in the minors, allowed four runs and eight hits while striking out five in six-plus innings.

“That’s probably about as good a changeup as we’ve seen him have,” Shelton said. “He had it in some starts when he pitched for us. The other thing is he’s funky with the (pause in) the delivery. When you have a bunch of young hitters that are seeing him for the first time, the funk in his delivery can cause issues. Today, we saw a combination of both.”