Keller steadies with strong start after sputtering out of the break

PITTSBURGH --- Mitch Keller had a good outing Friday night. The only downside is the Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star right-hander took a tough loss.

Keller allowed just two runs in 5 2/3 innings as Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run home run in the third inning to open the scoring. That was enough to pin Keller (9-7) with his fourth straight loss, though, as the Pirates fell 2-1 to the Phillies at PNC Park in the opener of a three-game series.

The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler was outstanding with 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball.

“Pitchers' duels are always fun,” Keller said. “It's a quick game and you're ready to go and you need to be out there and throw up zeros. Every pitch is intense and every time there's a runner on base, it's elevated a little bit more to get out of it because you know the guy on the other side is not letting too much go on.”

Friday marked Keller’s last scheduled start in July. He finishes the month 0-4 with a 6.28 ERA in five starts despite pitching in the first All-Star Game of his career on July 11 in Seattle.

However, Keller was much better than in his first two starts coming out of the All-Star break. He was tagged for eight runs in six innings by the Guardians on July 18 then surrendered six runs in five innings to the Angels five days later.

On Friday, Keller allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked three.

"Definitely needed a good one after two rough ones,” Keller said. “Yeah, just felt more in a groove, attacked the zone a lot better. And yeah, just was able to finish better.

“I think a lot of it just comes down to execution. I think the previous couple starts, I didn't execute some pitches and those were the ones I got taken advantage of. It's just execution, just keeping them mindful of the situation and where we're at and not letting certain guys adjust and ultimately executing the pitch."

Brandon Marsh led off the Phillies’ third with a walk. One out later, Schwarber hit a 406-foot blast to the bullpens in center field.

The Phillies loaded the bases in the fourth on three straight one-out singles, but Keller avoided further trouble by striking out Marsh and getting Jake Cave to foul out.

However, the Pirates were limited to one run and three hits by Wheeler. Pirates manager Derek Shelton lauded the right-hander for stymying his team’s offense.

“That may have been as good as we’ve seen this year on the mound,” Shelton said. “He was in control. Executing all his pitches. Velocity was up. Fastball to all quadrants. He was really good.”

The Pirates got their lone run in the fourth on Ji Man Choi’s one-out RBI double. However, they wound up leaving runners on second and third.

In the eighth, the Pirates had runners on first and second, but Bryan Reynolds grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel then pitched a scoreless ninth, working around a two-out walk to Henry Davis, to preserve the one-run lead and notch his 17th save.

The Pirates have now alternated wins and losses in their last eight games following a five-game losing streak.

“We had a couple opportunities that we did not capitalize on,” Shelton said.