PITTSBURGH -- Mitch Keller was off on Tuesday. He felt that his stuff was all over the place and wasn’t crisp. Manager Derek Shelton described Keller’s outing as “the least sharp we’ve seen him in three months.”

In the not-so-distant past, an off night for Keller may have involved him giving up a handful of runs across a few innings, a start in which he didn’t put his team in a position to win. How times have changed.

Even on a night in which he didn’t seem to have his best stuff, Keller put together a solid outing in the Pirates’ 4-1 win over the Reds at PNC Park, allowing one run across five innings. Keller was far from satisfied with the performance, but in grinding with what he did have, he again exhibited his budding maturity on the mound.

“Just looking back, not really happy with the outing,” Keller said. “But at the end of the day, kept us in it and we ended up getting a win, and that's all that really matters.”

Keller reiterated that he was lucky in Tuesday’s outing, an assessment that is well warranted. On two occasions, the Reds loaded the bases on Keller and threatened to put up a crooked number, but on both occasions, the right-hander maneuvered his way out of trouble.

In the third inning, Cincinnati loaded the bases without a hit. Keller plunked Jonathan India, walked Kyle Farmer on seven pitches, then hit Spencer Steer, bringing Aristides Aquino to the plate with an opportunity to break the game open with one swing. Keller escaped the jam unscathed, striking out Aquino with a nasty low-and-away slider that ducked out of the strike zone.

Two innings later, the Reds loaded the bases with two outs. Farmer and Jake Fraley strung together back-to-back singles, then Steer drew a walk to load them up for, once again, Aquino. Just like their previous meeting, Keller got the better of Aquino, getting the slugger to fly out and end the inning.

“He had trouble with the fastball, continued to ride to his arm-side, the slider and the curveball weren’t as sharp,” Shelton said. “But I do think the fact that he was able to execute pitches -- he was able to get Aquino out in that big situation with the bases loaded -- just shows that he is maturing and he’s still able to battle when he doesn’t have his best stuff.”

Keller had trouble commanding his sinker in particular, but he was able to pivot to his fastball and slider to get through the night. The 26-year-old expressed that in the past, his outing could’ve easily spiraled without alternative options in his back pocket.

"I think in the past, if I only had the four-seam … who the hell knows where this game would be?” Keller said. “But just having two pitches, two fastballs, to rely on is huge for me."

Keller may not have been at his best against the Reds, but he’s arguably in the midst of his best stretch this season. Over his past six starts, Keller has allowed eight runs across 36 innings (2.00 ERA) with 36 strikeouts. At the beginning of September, Keller’s ERA stood at 4.43. Following Tuesday’s outing, it’s 3.92.

Pittsburgh missed an opportunity of its own as well, failing to score after loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. In the seventh, the offense got the big swing that eluded it in the fifth as Miguel Andújar smashed Buck Farmer’s middle-middle fastball off the left-center-field wall to drive in three runs, a swing that proved to be the difference. Off the bat, both Andújar, who held his follow through as he walked out the box, and Shelton thought the ball was destined for the bullpens.

“I thought it was clearly out. He hit it about as flush as you could hit it,” Shelton said. “I don’t know how much better you can get it, because he looked like he got every bit of it.”

After Andújar gave the Pirates the lead in the seventh, David Bednar locked it down in the ninth, pitching a 1-2-3 frame and recording his first save since July 23. Bednar looked much more like his All-Star self in his third outing back from the injured list, consistently touching 95 mph with his fastball and filling up the strike zone.

“I thought the ball came out of his hand well,” Shelton said. “He’s just getting back to moving down the mound the way we saw him before the injury, which is extremely encouraging.”