Sinker helps Mitch Keller turn in best start of season as Pirates top Tigers
PITTSBURGH – For Mitch Keller to get his season on track, all he had to do was ditch one offering and prioritize another.
Keller essentially did away with a cutter that was ineffective during his first two starts and prioritized a sinker that induced six of his season-high nine strikeouts in a 7-3 win for the Pirates against the Tigers at PNC Park on Monday night. In six innings, Keller yielded season-lows of two runs and five hits en route to his first victory of the year. From the outset, it didn’t appear that Keller would be in for an easy evening.
He issued walks to two of Detroit’s first three batters, and Colt Keith singled home the former to give Detroit an early 1-0 lead.
But Keller settled in for the second and struck out the side, the first two with a sinker that was only deployed 23% of the time last year. He even reared back a few times with his four-seam fastball, too, hucking a 97 mph fastball to Zach McKinstry that doubled as the hardest pitch of the game from either starter. Keller did run into some trouble again in the fourth, giving up back-to-back singles to Matt Vierling and Javier Baez.
McKinstry’s sacrifice fly plated the only other run the Tigers could muster against Keller. Meanwhile, the Pirates offense had its way with Detroit starter Reese Olson. They pushed three runs across in the second off Olson, who hadn’t given up more than two earned in his past seven starts.
Connor Joe singled home Jack Suwinski, who led off the second with a double, and Joey Bart brought home a pair when lining a ball squarely off second base before it trickled into center field.
The Pirates strung together another extended rally in the third, this time with Jared Triolo producing a two-RBI knock. The second baseman swung at the first pitch he saw with two away and the bases juiced, rolling a rounder up the gut to comfortably put the Pirates up by four.
That much of an offensive output was more than sufficient for Keller, who made it at least five innings for the 34th straight start. His latest pushed the Pirates record to 9-2 to start the season, keeping pace with the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball. ON THE MOUND After Keller departed, manager Derek Shelton turned to left-handed reliever Josh Fleming, since Ryan Borucki is shelved on the injured list and Jose Hernandez threw on Sunday.
Fleming produced a clean seventh, but ran into a little bit of trouble in the eighth following a fielding error from Oneil Cruz.
The Pirates shortstop mishandled a Riley Greene chopper to begin the frame, and came around on Vierling’s infield single. Aroldis Chapman entered for Fleming and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the Tigers’ threat with the bases loaded, continuing the offseason acquisition’s scoreless start to the season.
Ryder Ryan came on for the ninth and allowed a run for a third straight appearance. Riley Greene doubled to left, and Jack Suwinski nearly came up with a spectacular catch before barreling into the wall. Despite giving up an RBI double to Greene, Ryan finished off the Pirates’ ninth win of the year.
AT THE PLATE From the right side in the sixth, Bryan Reynolds smacked his 100th career home run, all of which have come with the Pirates. He’s the 25th player in Pirates franchise history to hit 100 home runs. The four-bagger was Reynolds’ second of the season, and the Pirates’ 11th of the year. He is tied for the team lead with Cruz. Six other players have homered this season.
