Keller's again left out in the cold by no-show bats
Runs have been almost non-existent for the Pirates through the first 18 games of the season, but when Mitch Keller has taken the mound, they've been even more scarce.
The Pirates were shut out for the third time tonight in a 3-0 loss to the Nationals at PNC Park that heard "Sell! The! Team!" chants emerge in the later innings. While this was the first shutout that Keller has been a part of this season, the Pirates haven't scored a run when he's been on the mound since Bryan Reynolds' solo home run against the Yankees in bottom of the third inning of the home opener. On top of that, this offense has tallied just 11 hits in the 23 innings that Keller has pitched this season.
On this night, the offense was shut down by Jake Irvin, who has a career ERA of 4.45 over 61 career starts. He worked seven innings and scattered three hits while walking one and striking out six. He also recorded three 1-2-3 innings and set down seven straight at one point.
"He was mixing all his pitches," Derek Shelton said of what he thought Irvin did well. "I thought we got some pitches to hit and we just didn't square him up."
The Pirates had one real chance all night long. It came in the fifth inning when Jack Suwinski led off with a single and Tommy Pham followed it with a four-pitch walk. With runners on first and second and no outs, Shelton had the perfect situation to have Adam Frazier lay down a bunt and move both runners into scoring position.
Instead, Shelton had Frazier hit away. He flew out to center field before Isiah Kiner-Falefa ended the inning in typical Pirates fashion:
"I thought about it," Shelton said of having Frazier bunt. "He (Irvin) had just walked Tommy on four pitches and kind of scattered his command. One of those, in hindsight now, maybe would have done it, but yeah, I did consider it right there."
A rotation fixture for five seasons, Keller hasn't seemed to be to bothered by the lack of run support. He's consistently continued to focus on his plan when he's on the mound and that's shown.
He didn't bring his sharpest stuff tonight. He used 105 pitches to work through six innings, scatter six hits and and give up three earned runs. He also walked two and struck out three. However, the Nationals packed a punch from the very beginning.
After a full count in the first at-bat, Keller left a fastball up and James Wood did this:
Early on, that was the only blemish on Keller's night. He set down 13 of the next 15 hitters he faced, giving up a walk to Nathaniel Lowe in the first and a single to him in the third. Other than that, he performed how he's been known to in the early parts of seasons.
The right-hander leaned heavily on his fastball and sweeper, throwing them 47 and 31 times, respectively, and mixed in his sinker (10), slider (7), changeup (7) and curveball (3). A five-pitch fourth inning was also crucial for him.
Keller also escaped the fifth inning after giving up back-to-back singles, but got two straight fly outs and a ground ball to work into the sixth, which was where he ran into trouble.
After getting back-to-back ground ball outs to start the inning, Keller lost control of a fastball that hit Nationals third baseman Paul DeJong in the face. DeJong exited the game afterward and Keller was visibly distraught both on the mound in the moments after the play and in the clubhouse.
"I feel pretty sick about that. Hate to have that happen," Keller said.
Dylan Crews followed up that at bat with a hit-and-run single as pinch-runner Amed Rosario moved all the way to third on the play. After Crews stole second, Keller engaged in a 10-pitch at-bat with Nasim Nuñez that concluded like this:
Keller threw seven sweepers in that at-bat alone and Nuñez fouled off five different pitches with one popping out of Henry Davis' glove, before poking a 3-2 fastball on the inside edge into center field.
"We threw everything I wanted to throw. I wouldn't change a dang thing about it. There was a foul tip, wish the foul tip gets caught, but nothing we can do about that. Then go right back to it, execute the pitch. Wish he would've hit it a little harder. Can't hang my head on that."
____________________
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
2:23 am - 04.16.2025NORTH SHOREKeller's again left out in the cold by no-show bats
Runs have been almost non-existent for the Pirates through the first 18 games of the season, but when Mitch Keller has taken the mound, they've been even more scarce.
The Pirates were shut out for the third time tonight in a 3-0 loss to the Nationals at PNC Park that heard "Sell! The! Team!" chants emerge in the later innings. While this was the first shutout that Keller has been a part of this season, the Pirates haven't scored a run when he's been on the mound since Bryan Reynolds' solo home run against the Yankees in bottom of the third inning of the home opener. On top of that, this offense has tallied just 11 hits in the 23 innings that Keller has pitched this season.
On this night, the offense was shut down by Jake Irvin, who has a career ERA of 4.45 over 61 career starts. He worked seven innings and scattered three hits while walking one and striking out six. He also recorded three 1-2-3 innings and set down seven straight at one point.
"He was mixing all his pitches," Derek Shelton said of what he thought Irvin did well. "I thought we got some pitches to hit and we just didn't square him up."
The Pirates had one real chance all night long. It came in the fifth inning when Jack Suwinski led off with a single and Tommy Pham followed it with a four-pitch walk. With runners on first and second and no outs, Shelton had the perfect situation to have Adam Frazier lay down a bunt and move both runners into scoring position.
Instead, Shelton had Frazier hit away. He flew out to center field before Isiah Kiner-Falefa ended the inning in typical Pirates fashion:
"I thought about it," Shelton said of having Frazier bunt. "He (Irvin) had just walked Tommy on four pitches and kind of scattered his command. One of those, in hindsight now, maybe would have done it, but yeah, I did consider it right there."
A rotation fixture for five seasons, Keller hasn't seemed to be to bothered by the lack of run support. He's consistently continued to focus on his plan when he's on the mound and that's shown.
He didn't bring his sharpest stuff tonight. He used 105 pitches to work through six innings, scatter six hits and and give up three earned runs. He also walked two and struck out three. However, the Nationals packed a punch from the very beginning.
After a full count in the first at-bat, Keller left a fastball up and James Wood did this:
Early on, that was the only blemish on Keller's night. He set down 13 of the next 15 hitters he faced, giving up a walk to Nathaniel Lowe in the first and a single to him in the third. Other than that, he performed how he's been known to in the early parts of seasons.
The right-hander leaned heavily on his fastball and sweeper, throwing them 47 and 31 times, respectively, and mixed in his sinker (10), slider (7), changeup (7) and curveball (3). A five-pitch fourth inning was also crucial for him.
Keller also escaped the fifth inning after giving up back-to-back singles, but got two straight fly outs and a ground ball to work into the sixth, which was where he ran into trouble.
After getting back-to-back ground ball outs to start the inning, Keller lost control of a fastball that hit Nationals third baseman Paul DeJong in the face. DeJong exited the game afterward and Keller was visibly distraught both on the mound in the moments after the play and in the clubhouse.
"I feel pretty sick about that. Hate to have that happen," Keller said.
Dylan Crews followed up that at bat with a hit-and-run single as pinch-runner Amed Rosario moved all the way to third on the play. After Crews stole second, Keller engaged in a 10-pitch at-bat with Nasim Nuñez that concluded like this:
Keller threw seven sweepers in that at-bat alone and Nuñez fouled off five different pitches with one popping out of Henry Davis' glove, before poking a 3-2 fastball on the inside edge into center field.
"We threw everything I wanted to throw. I wouldn't change a dang thing about it. There was a foul tip, wish the foul tip gets caught, but nothing we can do about that. Then go right back to it, execute the pitch. Wish he would've hit it a little harder. Can't hang my head on that."
____________________
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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