PITTSBURGH – After the Pirates' marathon, 13-inning loss Saturday night that forced six different relievers into the game, the team found itself in desperate need of a deep outing from Mitch Keller.
The right-hander provided just what the doctor ordered.
Keller fired seven innings of two-run ball in Pittsburgh’s 6-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon in the series finale. He faced the minimum through four innings and at one point retired 13 batters in a row. Keller lowered his season-ERA to 2.79.
“I felt really good,” said Keller, who earned his second win of the season. “I just wanted to bounce back from the last one. Be on the gas, just be on the attack and try not to walk anybody. No free passes and just fill it up.”
Keller gave up three consecutive hits in the fifth to drive in a pair of runs. That was the extent of the damage done against him, however, as he quickly settled down to post a pair of scoreless frames. All things considered, given the recent workload of the Pittsburgh bullpen, it was one of the team’s most clutch performances thus far.
“It was huge,” manager Don Kelly said. “Honestly, probably the biggest start of the year with where our bullpen was at. For him to be as strong as he was and get the W for the team, it was unbelievable. Just the way he attacked the zone and mixed up pitches, he did a great job.”
Jake Mangum led off the Pirates’ half of the first inning with a double, and later scored on a grounder to shortstop from Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates got three more runs in the fifth inning via four hits, capped by Reynolds’ two-run single. Spencer Horwitz slugged a solo home run in the sixth to pad the lead even further, and Nick Yorke hit his first homer of the season in the eighth. That was more than enough for Keller and the bullpen to work with.
“There’s never a doubt with this offense,” Keller said. “We’ve proven that we're always in it and we're always going to fight and claw back. Giving up two there, I just needed to keep it right there.”
He completed his entire outing on just 89 pitches. He didn’t allow a walk while striking out five, pitching with the efficiency the Pirates have become accustomed to early this season. He followed up his worst outing of the season last week against Washington – when he allowed five runs in four innings – with his longest start of the year.
“It was great,” catcher Joey Bart said. “I think he was ready to get back out there, bouncing back from the start a few days ago. … That’s what we expected out of him. I knew he was going to throw the ball well. That’s what he’s been doing all year.”
He mixed his pitches really well, throwing 38 fastballs, 13 curveballs, 11 sliders and 10 sinkers.
“We had a really good game plan going in,” Keller said. “Just trying to mix it up, use all the pitches, keep them off balance, get some quick first-pitch outs. … I thought we executed pretty well.”