Mitch Keller starts 2nd half strong in Pirates win against Cardinals

PITTSBURGH — It was going to take a whole lot more than a come-backer for Mitch Keller to depart.

On the heels of his shortest start of the season — a 57-pitch, three-inning outing against the Chicago White Sox last week — the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander made his first start of the second half Monday night at PNC Park.

But after yielding a leadoff home run to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman in the fifth and absorbing a liner up the middle, Keller was attended to by manager Derek Shelton and assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo. He tossed a few warmup pitches, raising concerns that it would be back-to-back starts Keller failed to make it through five innings after doing so in 49 straight.

Keller stayed in the contest and made it through seven innings in the Pirates’ 2-1 win against the Cardinals. The Pirates secured their ninth win in 11 games in the process, and Keller picked up his team-high 11th win of the season.

Nick Gonzales, as clutch as anybody in the Pirates’ lineup the last two months and this homestand in particular, ensured Keller’s effort didn’t go to waste with an RBI single to right in the eighth inning.

Unlike his last time out, when Keller’s velocity was down relative to his season averages, there were no such concerns. He pumped a plethora of fastballs, tossing sizzling four-seamers more frequently than any other pitch by a wide margin.

Though Keller only produced three strikeouts, tied for his season low, he effectively pitched to contact all evening. After St. Louis’ Alec Burleson ripped one up the middle off Keller in the fifth, he walked Willson Contreras but responded by retiring the next seven Cardinals hitters he faced to close out a fine start.

It wasn’t Keller’s most dominant start of the season, let alone his best of the year at PNC Park. But any fears of him stumbling out of the gate after a mildly concerning finish to the first half could be put to rest — at least for one night.

On the mound

Shelton lifted Keller for Aroldis Chapman after the seventh, and the veteran southpaw picked up where he left off from a dominant outing against the Phillies on Saturday in which he struck out three. Chapman retired the heart of the Cardinals’ order with ease to drop his season-long ERA below 4.00.

David Bednar followed Chapman with a clean ninth to lock down his 17th straight save, which qualifies as the National League’s longest active streak.

At the plate

Though the Pirates put runners aboard in the first two innings against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante, it wasn’t until the third that they tagged him for a run. Andrew McCutchen smacked a double, and Oneil Cruz plated him with a two-out single to the opposite field.

The Pirates caused some havoc in the later innings, including in the seventh. Joshua Palacios came off the bench and singled to right, putting runners at the corners with one away. But Joey Bart chopped into a fielder’s choice and Andrew McCutchen grounded out to end the threat.

After fouling off five pitches, Bryan Reynolds led off the eighth with a single and advanced on a wild pitch. Gonzales plated him with a seeing-eye ground ball, in turn giving the Pirates’ their second lead of the evening and one they wouldn’t relinquish.

Up next

Tuesday: Pirates vs. Cardinals, 6:40 p.m. ET, PNC Park

Probable pitchers: RHP Paul Skenes (6-0, 1.90) for Pirates; RHP Lance Lynn (5-4, 4.39) for Cardinals

Key matchup: Lynn has pitched quite frequently against the Pirates, 25 times over his career going into Tuesday. Across 123 career innings, he has compiled a career 5.34 ERA against the Pirates.

Hidden stat: Since June 25, the Pirates’ bullpen ranks fourth in MLB with a 2.58 ERA. Dennis Santana has a 0.75 ERA since June 15, and David Bednar owns the National League’s longest active saves streak (17).

Wednesday: Pirates vs. Cardinals, 12:35 p.m., PNC Park

Probable pitchers: LHP Martin Perez (1-5, 5.61) for Pirates; TBD for Cardinals

____