Pirates Lineup Proved Mitch Keller Right With Scoring Outburst

Mitch Keller knew it would happen eventually.

The Pittsburgh Pirates offense hasn’t provided much run support this season for Keller, who entered Friday’s start against the New York Mets with a 1-10 record. After scoring two runs in each of his last six turns, the lineup caught fire in a 9-1 victory at PNC Park.

That scoring barrage probably didn’t surprise Keller. After all, the 29-year-old predicted this precise outcome after his previous start. Last weekend, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Colin Beazley relayed Keller’s lack of concern about the run trend.

“There’s a lot of season left,” Keller said. “Like I said, I don’t pay attention to runs scored for me. I have no say in what goes on there, I’m not on that side. You’ve just gotta keep going, because one time, it’s gonna change. As many times we’re in these one-run games, we’re gonna explode for one.”

That explosion happened Friday night. The Pirates corrected their season-long struggles against left-handed pitching by pounding David Peterson for seven hits, three walks and five runs in 4 2/3 innings. He entered PNC Park with a 2.98 ERA after allowing three or fewer runs in each of his first 14 starts.

For good measure, Bryan Reynolds hit a three-run home run against the recently recalled Blade Tidwell in the sixth inning. Reynolds, who also submitted his fourth double in the last five games, hadn’t touched them all since June 6.

Keller fell short of recording his 12th quality start, but he produced another strong outing. The 2023 All-Star improved his ERA to 3.90 after containing the Mets to one run over 5 1/3 innings. His only blemish was a solo shot from the red-hot Juan Soto, who now has 11 home runs in June.

“Winning as a team always feels good,” Keller said after the game, per MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf. “I mean, we’ve got the disco ball and the music playing and stuff like that. So that aspect is fun, for sure.”

The Pirates hadn’t scored more than four runs in a Keller start before Friday. Perhaps they’ll continue to reward his patience throughout the summer.

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