PITTSBURGH -- While every Major League clubhouse has a few staples -- televisions, couches, the works -- it’s the little additions to each room that show some quirks. At PNC Park, the Pirates have a ping-pong table on one end, a miniature basketball hoop in the center, and, new within the last year, a disco ball hanging from the middle of the room that lights up during postgame victory celebrations.
Mitch Keller hadn’t seen that ball light up after a start all season. He won his first outing of the year on March 28, but had gone winless over his next 15 starts while being saddled with 10 losses. It wasn’t all his fault. He racked up 10 quality starts during that stretch and had advanced metrics that were right in line with his All-Star campaign in 2023. The biggest issue is he was receiving the least amount of run support of any starting pitcher who qualifies for the ERA title, averaging just 2.1 runs of support per game.
Friday, that changed. The Pirates struck for four runs in the second inning to give Keller an early lead, Bryan Reynolds iced the game with a three-run homer in the sixth and the Pirates finally got their starter back in the win column, beating the Mets 9-1.
“Winning as a team always feels good,” Keller said. “I mean, we've got the disco ball and the music playing and stuff like that. So that aspect is fun, for sure.”
Friday’s win was Keller’s first at PNC Park since July 8 of last year, also against these Mets. A stretch like he was having is taxing on any pitcher, but throughout it all, Keller was steady. The focus was on just controlling what he could control. He can’t hit, so there was nothing he could do about that stretch of nine straight outings where the Pirates scored two runs or fewer.
“Every day that he comes in, he's the same guy,” manager Don Kelly said. “... He's pitched more like 10-1 than 1-10.”
The offense has been a sore spot for most of this season, with the Pirates ranking near the bottom in most key categories. For some reason, it seems to be worse with Keller, though. The Pirates’ four-run second inning -- when they sent nine men to the plate, with Alexander Canario’s RBI double being the big knock of the frame -- matched the most runs they had scored for Keller in any game this season.
“He’s been killing it, doing so well,” Nick Gonzales said. “We haven’t been giving him the support he needs. To do that today is nice. He did what he did and gave us the opportunity to keep putting up runs and get the win.”
The ironic part was Friday was one of Keller’s lesser starts this year. He pitched just 5 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since May 2. He needed 29 pitches to get out of the first inning. While he was tagged for only five hits and one run, he allowed more hard contact than usual. Reliever Isaac Mattson had to strand a pair of inherited runners in the sixth to close his book.
But it was also a showcase of the adaptability that makes Keller so effective. His hiccup on the evening was when Juan Soto took a sweeper deep for a home run to lead off the fourth. Keller was at 60 pitches after the homer, so getting to five innings to qualify for a win was far from guaranteed.
After relying on the four-seamer and slider for most of the evening, he opened up his repertoire more for the rest of his outing, helping him get the quick outs and some much-needed length.
“Just to get the next few guys out on four pitches or five pitches was huge,” Keller said. “Kind of felt like a win on our end, honestly for [the] pitch count, just to keep going back out.”
At the end of the day, Keller being credited with a win probably meant more to the rest of the team than the pitcher. He puts a lot more stock into stats he has complete control over, like walks, innings and quality starts.
“Honestly, I would rather have a quality start, but I'm glad we got the win,” Keller said with a smile. “Like a quality start with the win would be amazing. But yeah, I'll take the win, for sure.”