Keller unhittable again in weird defeat
Bullpen fails to hold off the Indians in the ninth
CLEVELAND — It surely would have made for a positive story, the continuation of a recent positive trend with their starting pitching, not to mention an obscure outing from Mitch Keller.
But winning their season- high fourth in a row was not to be for the Pirates.
Instead, they’ll have to settle for the consolation prize: getting one step closer to the No. 1 overall pick in 2021.
After another flirtation with a no- hitter and just a bunt single allowed entering the ninth inning, Chris Stratton couldn’t close it out, and the Pirates lost to the Cleveland Indians, 4- 3, on Friday at Progressive Field.
“Just a weird game,” said Keller, who was in line for the win despite walking eight over five hitless innings. “I don’t think I’ve ever walked eight people in a game, let alone … I don’t know the last time I walked eight people, ever. Just a weird game.”
The good news for the Pirates is that, finally, they encountered a good time to blow a late lead, not that anyone was overly excited about dropping to 18- 40 on the season and 2- 16 against the American League.
The Pirates had a 3- 1 lead headed into the bottom of the night but Richard Rodriguez was unavailable because he had pitched three times over the past five games. Stratton started off the ninth by walking right fielder Tyler Naquin.
Former Pirate Jordan Luplow cut the Pirates’ lead to 3- 2 with a double off the wall. Two batters later, center fielder Delino DeShields singled to center field, tying the game at 3. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez ended it when he smoked a line drive down the right- field line.
The rally was relatively unexpected considering the Indians had only DeShields’ bunt single in the seventh until that point, but this one featured a bunch of unexpected stuff, starting with Keller.
Struggling to find a rhythm, Keller opened the game by walking the bases loaded on 15 pitches, then escaped trouble with only one run allowed. At one point Keller slipped, and he seemed to be digging at the mound, trying to find something comfortable.
“Something was off,” Keller said. “It just didn’t feel the same.”
The good news is that Keller, after returning from a left oblique issue that kept him out for much of 2020, finished the season strong, carrying two really positive starts — featuring 11 innings without a hit allowed — into the offseason.
“If you take away the walks there, my last two outings were really good for me,” Keller said. “Even with those walks, I found a way to get through it. I found a way to only let them score one and keep us in it.”
The outing from Keller dusted off all sorts of superlatives and goofy stats, including:
• He became the first National League pitcher with back- to- back no- hit outings of five or more innings since Johnny Vander Meer had consecutive no- hitters on June 11- 15, 1938.
• The eight walks were the most for an MLB starting pitcher this season.
• They were the most for a Pirates starter since Jason Schmidt issued eight free passes against the Reds on Sept. 18, 1996. ( The Pirates actually won, 5- 3, with Schmidt lasting seven innings.)
• Keller became the first Pirates pitcher with eight- plus walks but no hits allowed since — you guessed it — Dock Ellis during his no- hitter on June 12, 1970. ( Ellis also walked eight.)
It also continued a recent trend for Pirates starting pitchers as a whole, one that now traces back 11 starts.
Since Sept. 16, Pirates starters have a 1.61 ERA. They’ve allowed one run or none in nine of those 11 outings. Over the last seven, Pirates starting pitchers have allowed just four earned runs in 43⅓ innings ( 0.83 ERA) while striking out 65 and giving up three home runs.
In short, Pirates starters have been the best in baseball over the past 11 games.
“The teams that win year in and year out, the playoff teams, they do it on starting pitching,” manager Derek Shelton said.