SAN DIEGO -- Mitch Keller has been about as consistent as one can be of late. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the outcome has been nearly as consistent.
Keller delivered his fifth straight quality start on Friday night but took another tough-luck loss in the Bucs’ 3-2 defeat against the Padres in the series opener at Petco Park.
Keller allowed three earned runs across six innings -- the minimum standard for a quality start. His streak of five is one shy of his career best from last season, May 6 through June 7.
Despite a 3.73 ERA -- lower than the MLB average of 4.00 entering Friday -- Keller sits with a 1-7 record. During his current string of quality starts, the Pirates have won but one of them.
“He would love to get the win, sure,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “But he’s going out there to put us in the best position to be successful.”
In his past five starts, Keller has a 2.90 ERA and has yielded only one home run. He has mastered mixing his six-pitch repertoire while keeping the ball in the yard and avoiding big innings.
It was more of the same against the Padres, but fortune did not break his way. Two runs scored on tricky infield plays.
In the fourth inning, baserunning Manny Machado screened shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a ground ball off the bat of Jackson Merrill. Machado leaped as the ball bounced between his legs. Kiner-Falefa was unable to field it, and the ball bounced into short left field, allowing Machado to score.
It was another Merrill grounder in the sixth, this time a fielder’s choice with Luis Arraez scoring from third. With the infield in, Merrill hit the ball to second baseman Adam Frazier, whose throw home was to the right side of the plate, which allowed Arraez to beat the tag.
“Quality starts are nice, but it wasn’t enough tonight,” Keller said. “It sucks.”
Said Kelly: “Against that lineup, here, he pitched really, really well. Again, he probably deserved the ‘W.’ It’s been something that he’s been fighting, but he did another great job tonight.”
The Pirates had a chance to get Keller off the hook in the eighth inning, but it turned into their greatest frustration of the night.
With the Padres ahead, 3-2, Andrew McCutchen’s 438th career double and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Padres manager Mike Shildt yanked setup reliever Jason Adam in favor of closer Robert Suarez for a four-out save.
That first out is what rankled the Bucs.
Henry Davis worked the count full before looking at a 99 mph fastball he thought was clearly low. Plate umpire Edwin Jimenez thought otherwise and rang him up. Davis threw up his hands in disbelief, and Kelly charged out of the dugout to earn his third ejection in his 20-game tenure.
McCutchen, the designated hitter, did not have to remain on the field for defense. Instead, he took a prominent position in the dugout and glared at Jimenez. Keller, meanwhile, returned from the clubhouse to say his piece from the dugout. The jawing continued from the Pirates’ dugout even after the final out.
“How many times has D.K. been thrown out since he’s been manager here?” McCutchen said, knowing the answer. “I don’t think he’s doing that because he wants to be. … We’ve seen it more than once against us.”
The Pirates are 9-11 since Kelly replaced Derek Shelton. Six of those losses are by one run.
“As a team, we’ve got to go out and earn it,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to earn that respect. We’ve got to play with a chip on our shoulders and find a way to overcome those situations.”