Keller keeps impressive streak alive despite rare rough start

PITTSBURGH -- Mitch Keller had, arguably, his roughest outing of the season on Tuesday night. However, the Pirates right-hander at least kept an impressive streak alive.

Keller gave up a season-high six runs, five of which were earned, but still managed to pitch at least five innings for the 48th consecutive time dating to last season as the Pirates fell to the Cardinals, 7-4, in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.

In missing a chance for his 10th win of the season, Keller allowed nine hits, including two homers, while striking out five and walking none.

“He had trouble putting guys away,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He gave up some hits with two outs, gave up the homers with two strikes. It looked like he missed in the middle of the plate with two strikes.”

The home runs proved to be too much to overcome for the Pirates. Alec Burleson hit a two-run shot in the third to open the scoring, and Nolan Gorman connected for a grand slam an inning later to put the Cardinals ahead, 6-0.

The Pirates (40-44) lost for the third time in their last four games.

Gorman’s slam was the big blow after Brendan Donovan hit a single. Nolan Arenado reached on catcher’s interference by Yasmani Grandal, and Matt Carpenter singled to load the bases with none out. Gorman then homered to the deepest part of the park, clearing the 410-foot sign in left-center field.

“I thought I made a really good pitch to [Gorman], exactly where I wanted to,” Keller said. “I know he’d been struggling a little bit, but Gorman had a great swing on it, drove it to the hardest part of the park to hit a homer. So, hats off to him.”

Keller kept his streak of five-plus-inning starts alive as he threw a scoreless fifth to finish his 99-pitch outing. It is the longest streak in MLB since the Braves’ Max Fried ran off 50 in a row from June 6, 2021, through the end of the 2022 season.

“That was probably the best inning he threw the ball,” Shelton said of the fifth.

Keller had allowed just two runs in 28 2/3 innings in his previous four home starts. He wasn’t overly impressed with keeping his streak going.

“Yeah, it’s cool, but I’d rather go four innings and give up one [run],” Keller said.

The Pirates cut the deficit to 6-4 in the fifth when Jack Suwinski hit a three-run home run and Andrew McCutchen added a solo shot off Kyle Gibson (6-3). However, four relievers shut out the Pirates over the final four innings with Ryan Helsley getting his MLB-best 31st save.

Suwinski had an encouraging night for the Pirates as he went 3-for-3 and his home run to right-center traveled a Statcast-projected 448 feet.

He entered the game with a .168 batting average a year after the outfielder hit 26 home runs.

“It’s big time,” Suwinski said of his night. "[It's] just something I’ll take with me into the next couple games and just keep rolling with that.

“It was just continuing with the hard work, putting together a couple things, just some game prep of knowing what [Gibson] has, what he likes to do and know how we’re going to attack that.”

McCutchen’s home run was his 12th of the year, matching his total from last year.

Eleven of his homers have come when he is batting leadoff. That is one away from his career high of 12 during his rookie season in 2009.

McCutchen’s 12 homers are tied for the fourth-most by a Pirates player in their age-37 season or older before the All-Star Game (since 1933), and the most since Jeromy Burnitz hit 12 during the first half of the 2006 season.