Mitch Keller dominant while striking out 13 in 4-0 Pirates victory
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Mitch Keller was on top of his game Sunday afternoon for a second consecutive outing, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-0 victory against Baltimore at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
This time, he had some accompaniment and support from his teammates. The Pirates scored more than three runs in a game for the first time since totaling 22 in a doubleheader sweep of the Washington Nationals on April 29.
Six days after Keller defeated the Colorado Rockies with a complete-game shutout, the ace starter handcuffed the Orioles (26-14) over seven innings. He struck out career-high 13 — six on called strikes — and allowed only four hits (all singles) and hit a batter. He didn’t walk anyone, even though the Orioles lead the American League in base on balls (156).
Keller’s performance marked only third time in Pirates history a pitcher struck out 13 without issuing a walk, following Jose DeLeon in 1985 and Francisco Liriano in 2016, according to AT&T SportsNet.
Keller threw 93 pitches, 70 for strikes, and he used his fastball for six strikeouts, his sinker for four. He needed only three pitches for five of his strikeouts.
In his past five outings (33 innings), he has struck out 44 batters while giving up only 22 hits and lowering his season ERA to 2.38.
Colin Holderman pitched the eighth, but the Orioles threatened against David Bednar in the ninth. Adam Frazier singled, and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes muffed Austin Hays’ ground ball. With two on and no outs, Bednar struck out the next two batters and forced Adley Rutschman to pop out to Hayes to end the game.
Keller, Holderman and Bednar recorded 17 strikeouts, 63% of the Orioles’ outs. The total represented the most strikeouts without a walk by a Pirates pitching staff in the past century.
The Pirates (22-19) have won just twice since April 29 (a total of 13 games), and Keller has been the starting pitcher in both games. The victory broke the Pirates’ four-game losing streak.
After losing 11 of the previous 12 games, Pirates manager Derek Shelton juggled his lineup, inserting Andrew McCutchen into the leadoff spot — the first time he’s appeared there for the Pirates since 2011 — and dropping Ke’Bryan Hayes to fifth.
The move paid off in the first inning when McCutchen opened the game with a single. After Bryan Reynolds singled to put runners on first and third, Carlos Santana’s ground ball forceout scored McCutchen.
In the third, Reynolds struck out but reached first base on a wild pitch by Orioles starter Kyle Gibson. After Jack Suswinski walked, Hayes’ single scored a run. Tucupita Marcano moved Hayes to second, and Ji Hwan Bae followed with a two-out, two-run single.
With only singles among their seven hits, the Pirates did not score after the third inning and were hitless in the final four.
Source: TribLIVE
