If it had not been for a 98.6 mph comebacker off of his right shin in the eighth inning, Mitch Keller would have likely been given the chance to do something for the second time in his career and for the first time since early May.
That period also refers to the time when Keller was at his best this season, and when Keller was placing himself in the conversation among the best starters in the National League. Things are a bit different three months and some change apart from that point, but if the All-Star was going to finish the season on a strong note, he was going to have to start somewhere.
Perhaps Friday's 2-1 victory over the Cubs at PNC Park is that point.
Keller spun eight scoreless innings over a span of 93 pitches, all while displaying sharpness in his mix that had lacked over the second half of this season. He surrendered four hits -- three of which did not leave the infield -- and began his outing with 3.2 perfect innings.
"You know when you feel good," Keller said. "I didn’t feel particularly good in my pregame, but I try not to put any weight because the good ones usually lead to bad starts and the bad ones usually lead to good starts. I try not to think about it too much. I just try to go out by out, because as soon as you start thinking that it’s going to be a good one, it will humble you very fast. ... Today, I think we started with two strikeouts in the first and then they were swinging really early. So, we just kept with it. The sinker, cutter, and slider to righties and four-seam. Until they showed us an adjustment, we weren’t going to change and they never really did. So, we stuck with it."
Keller was cruising on 79 pitches through seven innings. He got Yan Gomes to line out in a four-pitch count, and his next pitch -- pitch No. 84 through 7.1 innings -- briefly took the air out of an already muggy PNC Park. Nick Madrigal roped a line drive into the right shin of Keller, and the headliner of the evening went down for a moment on the grass in front of the mound. Jason Delay urged him to get up, which he did on his own power as he took a couple of steps towards the mound before assuming his position and throwing a test pitch.
"I was just kind of just sitting there and JD came out and he goes, ‘Get up, let’s go, we’re finishing this,'" Keller said. "I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right, let’s go.’ I just wanted one pitch to feel it out and then we were ready to rock."
He remained in the game for nine more pitches, in which Mike Tauchman flew out to center and Nico Hoerner grounded back to Keller to end the eighth. At 93 pitches and with a goose egg on the scoreboard -- and one starting to develop on his shin -- Derek Shelton elected to turn to David Bednar for the ninth.
From the standpoints of feel, flow, fun, and all of the other intangible statistics that are associated with a start of this caliber, Keller looked more like his first-half self in this start than any other in the second half. He turned to the cutter most often, for 36 pitches, and followed it with a sinker that had slightly more juice than usual, allowing him to rack up nine swings and misses. He struck out three of the first five Cubs hitters and retired 12 of the first 13.
Keller allowed five or fewer hits to an opponent for the second time post-All-Star break, out of eight starts. Friday was his first instance of allowing zero runs in an outing since shutting down Arizona in seven scoreless innings July 8.
“Yeah, and I think that goes back to what we talked about earlier in the year, the maturation of Mitch Keller," Shelton said. "Pitching in the big leagues is hard when you’re facing lineups, and you’re going to go through some peaks and valleys, but I think what we’ve seen is his ability to grow and make adjustments, and the awareness of making adjustments is what’s happened, and it’s fun to watch."
Keller has pitched one complete-game shutout in his career, on May 8 this season against the Rockies. Had that comebacker from Madrigal not targeted Keller's shin, he might have had a shot at his second.
“That would have been a conversation," Shelton said. "I mean, he was, what, at 93 (pitches)? And I was even curious if he was going to push me, and when I went down and saw it, he got flushed up pretty well. And, he helped himself out. I think he had three or four assists, he turned the double play. He did a nice job. But, yeah, overall it would have been, probably, a challenging conversation. If you pitch that well you put yourself in the conversation which is what we’re looking for.”
Bednar allowed a leadoff homer to Pittsburgh native Ian Happ to begin the ninth, and Cody Bellinger almost beat out his grounder because Alika Williams double-clutched his motion before throwing over. Bellinger was called safe, but the ruling was overturned by crew chief Vic Carapazza after Shelton challenged for a replay. Dansby Swanson grounded out to Williams and Seiya Suzuki struck out to end the game.
"He got behind. He went arm-side, arm-side and tried to get a fastball in there, and Ian hit it. After that, the curveball and the split, and then Alika makes two really good plays. And (Alfonso) Rivas, I mean, that's a heck of a stretch and he makes a tough pick after sitting for eight innings. Really proud of David, really proud of Alika and Rivas to come into the game at the end like he did made two big plays. You gotta get fully extended on the stretch there to get that with Bellinger going down the line hard. That was really nice to see."
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THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: RF Henry Davis (thumb)
• 15-day injured list: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), INF Tucupita Marcano (knee), LHP Angel Perdomo (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, DH
4. Josh Palacios, RF
5. Connor Joe, 1B
6. Jack Suwinski, CF
7. Ji Hwan Bae, 2B
8. Alika Williams, SS
9. Jason Delay, C
And for David Ross' Cubs:
1. Michael Tauchman, CF
2. Nico Hoerner, 2B
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Cody Bellinger, 1B
5. Dansby Swanson, SS
6. Seiya Suzuki, DH
7. Jeimer Candelario, 1B
8. Yan Gomes, C
9. Nick Madrigal, 3B
THE SCHEDULE
Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (2-2, 3.13 ERA) will oppose Pirates right-hander Colin Selby (1-1, 7.27) at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. It will be Selby's first major-league start. Alex Stumpf will cover.
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