Pirates put it all together to split series with Mets

Pitching. Hitting. Defense. 

The Pirates did it all Monday afternoon to earn an 8-2 win in the series finale of their four-game set against the Mets before hitting the road to Milwaukee for another crucial series before the All-Star break.

A day after not being selected for next week's MLB All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, Mitch Keller put together a special performance. Although he said afterward he had moved past the disappointment and had flushed all of the emotions that came with it, Keller seemed to have a little extra motivation early on. He struck out the side in the first inning, threw just five pitches in the second and recorded eight innings of seven-hit ball while allowing two earned runs, which came off one bad pitch.

That pitch, a 3-0 cutter, found far too much of the plate as Brandon Nimmo sent a souvenir to fans in the center field bleachers in the sixth inning. Nimmo's 14th blast of the season tied the game at two.

"He made one bad pitch in eight innings and it was hot and he had to sit through two long innings," Derek Shelton said. "If that’s not an All-Star, I’m hard pressed to see what is.”

Keller said he was beating himself up after allowing New York to tie the game, but unlike so many other games throughout the season, the offense showed up for one of its team leaders. 

Oneil Cruz hit his 14th home run of the year into the Pirates' bullpen to give his team an early two-run lead in the fourth, but the sixth inning was where the offense came alive as each hitter fed off the energy of the hitter in front of him. 

With two outs, Bryan Reynolds drew a seven-pitch walk, with the final pitch of the at-bat just missing the strike zone. Cruz then singled to left before Rowdy Tellez showcased his "barely-below" league average speed to beat out an infield single and drive Reynolds in. 

"I can run," Tellez would say afterward. 

Nick Gonzales and Joshua Palacios then took advantage of Eric Orze, who was making his MLB debut. Gonzales drilled a low line drive down the right-field line that eventually ricocheted off the fence in foul territory and back into the field of play, allowing Gonzales to advance to third. The hit scored both Cruz and Tellez.

Gonzales, who went 2 for 4 on the day, said those types of hits are when he feels like he is at his best. 

"Hitting low balls to right and high balls to left," Gonzales said. "Sometimes I can flip-flop there, but that's usually when I'm in the right spot." 

Palacios followed it up with his home run to right. A high-energy guy to begin with, Palacios said seeing what the guys in front of him did gave him everything he needed.

"Watching that at-bat by Cruz, watching the at-bat by Rowdy and watching Nick get that through, that got me excited," Palacios said. "I was ready to go. And then I got something good to hit and I was able to unleash on it."

That inning gave Keller a little extra motivation to finish an outing that was strong from start to finish. He faced eight more batters in his final two innings and threw 107 total pitches, 79 of which went for strikes. 

"I was kind of beating myself up a little bit there, I gave up the lead," Keller said of allowing Nimmo's home run. "Once we got it right back, it just gives you a little extra oomph to go back out there and finish the job."

The Pirates' defense also made several defensive plays. Two big defensive plays from Tellez, one to his right on a Jose Iglesias line drive in the third inning and another on a diving play to his left up the right-field line, along with a few from both Jared Triolo and Gonzales helped Keller extend his outing. 

Keller said he and Joey Bart developed a game plan to attack the zone and "fill it up as much as possible." That was evident in the early innings as 14 of his first 15 pitches were strikes. When that happens, hitters are bound to put the ball in play and the defense was ready for it. 

"Rowdy made some good plays, Jack made a really good play, Gonzo, Key there in the ninth -- just trying to think of all, I mean there's a bunch of spectacular plays made there," Keller said. "Reynolds' catch to end the game there, that was huge. So everybody was clicking. It was a fun day."