Behind Mitch Keller's shutout, Rodolfo Castro's HR, Pirates top Rockies to snap 7-game skid
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There was never a conversation about taking Mitch Keller out of the game, not with the way the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander was dealing against the Colorado Rockies with confidence and pinpoint control.
The pressure of pitching in a scoreless game was relieved when Rodolfo Castro hit a line drive over the left-center wall for a two-run home run in the seventh inning, bringing alive the home dugout and causing a pumped-up Keller to sit down to catch his breath.
Then he delivered a breathtaking finish.
Keller served as the stopper to the Pirates’ seven-game losing streak, tossing the first complete-game shutout of his career in a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night before 9,956 at PNC Park.
“It’s kind of hard to put it into words,” Keller said. “I don’t know, I’m still speechless about it. It was really cool. I kind of blacked out out there in the fifth or sixth. It’s just really special to do it with a bunch of these guys in here. We had been struggling a little bit. Huge win here. Castro’s unbelievable. It’s just really cool.”
Keller (4-1) outdueled Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland (3-4) in a game that lasted 1 hour, 55 minutes, the third-shortest in PNC Park history and fastest since 2007. Keller recorded eight strikeouts with four hits and one walk allowed. He threw 77 of his 103 pitches for strikes, getting 20 called strikes and 11 swings and misses, per Statcast, while mixing a four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, sweeper and curveball.
“The execution was elite, that was for sure,” Pirates catcher Austin Hedges said. “I was looking at the iPad (between innings), and there were sequences where he was throwing every pitch on the corner, no matter whether it was on the top, in, out or bottom. That’s about as clean as it gets for a guy with that type of arsenal.”
It marked the Pirates’ first victory since sweeping a doubleheader on April 29 at Washington and their fourth win of the season against Colorado (14-22) after a three-game sweep last month at Coors Field. The Pirates had been outscored 44-9 during their losing streak.
“That’s a big-boy start. Wow,” Shelton said, shaking his head. “You’re in the midst of a seven-game stretch (and) he goes out and does that. That’s what guys who start Opening Day do. They go out and stop things like that. He stopped it with an exclamation mark.”
Until then, there had been so many question marks during the losing streak. The Pirates tried to answer one by selecting the contract of 31-year-old Chris Owings, who started at shortstop after Castro made errors in back-to-back games.
Owings made an immediate impact, catching a pop fly by Rockies leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon in the first inning. In his first at-bat, Owings followed Jack Suwinski’s walk with a sharp single to left that put runners on first and second. The Pirates came up empty, however, as Freeland got Hedges to ground into a forceout at third and Ke’Bryan Hayes to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
Owings had a double play of his own in the fifth. Mike Moustakas singled to center, but Ezequiel Tovar followed by hitting into a 4-6-3 that saw Owings make the turn look effortless.
The Pirates put a pair of runners on base with one out in the fifth, as Castro drew a walk and Jack Suwinski hit a bloop single to left. They executed a double steal as Freeland struck out Owings, but the Rockies challenged the call on Castro at third base. After a video review, it was overturned when replays showed Ryan McMahon tagged Castro out.
“We were planning on contact,” Shelton said. “We just didn’t get it.”
The Pirates came up empty on another scoring chance. Hedges, who entered the game batting .140, hit a leadoff double to left-center in the sixth for his first extra-base hit since April 14. Hayes singled, but Reynolds grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that put Hedges on third. Andrew McCutchen drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners but Freeland got Carlos Santana to ground into a forceout.
Finally, Connor Joe hit a flare to right to start the seventh. Castro drove Freeland’s belt-high 0-1 fastball 406 feet to center and over the glove of a leaping Brenton Doyle at the wall for a two-run home run, his fourth of the season, and a 2-0 Pirates lead.
“Our dugout just erupted when it went over the fence,” Keller said. “That’s awesome. Just to have him come through in the clutch like that was huge. It just revived our dugout a little bit.”
Shelton had Colin Holderman warm up in the eighth, but it proved unnecessary, as Keller needed only eight pitches to complete the frame. He ended it by getting Blackmon looking at a called third strike for the final out.
Despite sitting at 96 pitches and having All-Star closer David Bednar warming up in the bullpen, Shelton sent Keller back out for the ninth without a word.
“With the way his stuff was tonight, that was his game all the way,” Shelton said. “He did a really good job with it.”
Keller cruised through the final three batters on seven pitches. He struck out Profar on a 96.8 mph fastball and got Kris Bryant to swing at a 94-mph sinker for fly out to right. With two outs, the crowd stood and cheered so loud and his adrenaline was pumping so much that Keller couldn’t hear Hedges’ call on his PitchCom device.
“I almost had to step off and turn it up,” Keller said. “On the last curve, I heard curveball, but I only heard the ‘V-E’ and ‘ball’ in ‘curveball.’ Thankfully it was the last pitch, because I don’t know if I were going to be able to hear it.”
Keller threw a curveball, and McMahon grounded out to Castro at second to clinch the complete game victory. Keller walked toward home plate, where Hedges wrapped him in a celebratory bear hug.
“He’s in that category of ace,” Hedges said. “He’s the one you want on the mound in the playoffs when you’ve gotta face a big dog. He’s our big dog. I don’t care who we’re facing, I’ll take I’ll take Mitch Keller versus anybody in the league right now. The stuff speaks for itself, but it’s also his desire to show not just himself but the whole league that he is that guy.”
Source: TribLIVE
