The Pirates start a west coast trip late Monday night, taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mitch Keller, who was recently named to the National League All-Star team, will take the mound for the Pirates, looking for his tenth win of the season.
If Keller gets the win, it will mark the first time that any Pirates pitcher has recorded double-digit wins since 2019, when Joe Musgrove had 11 wins. It makes sense that the Pirates didn’t have any ten game winners in their rebuild years.
Keller is going to be in great company by the end of this season, if he keeps up this pace. Only three Pirates pitchers since 2012 have finished with more than 14 wins:
Gerrit Cole, 2015 – 19
A.J. Burnett, 2012 – 16
Francisco Liriano, 2013 – 16
In 2018, Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams tied with 14 wins each, which rounds out the top five over the last decade.
Without doing much else, Keller is going to put up one of the best Pirates pitching performances in years. He might end up among the best in the last decade. If he picks up wins in half of his remaining starts, he could catch Burnett and Liriano.
At the least, Keller’s performance this year is making him a prime extension candidate.
PIRATES (39-44) AT LOS ANGELES
Game Time: 10:10 PM EST
Pirates Starter: Mitch Keller, RHP (9-3, 3.34)
Dodgers Starter: Michael Grove, RHP (0-2, 7.54)
Pirates Lineups:
All-Star Mitch Keller is on the mound tonight.
Dodgers Lineups:
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Pirates: pic.twitter.com/HesoAMii6o
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 3, 2023
DAILY PIRATES NEWS
Anthony Solometo and Liover Peguero were the pitcher and batter of the month for June. Check out all of the monthly top performers, as well as the look ahead to this week’s schedule of games in the minors.
**Anthony Solometo and Liover Peguero Led the Pirates System in June
Jared Jones is profiled in the latest Prospect Watch, which also includes all of the daily minor league action.
**Prospect Watch: Jared Jones, Derek Diamond, Josiah Sightler
I looked back at the 2021 draft strategy to see the early results of the Pirates going under-slot with the first overall pick.
**Pirates Prospects Daily: The Early Results From That 2021 Draft Strategy
More Recent Pirates Features
7/2: Derek Shelton’s Difficult Job
6/30: Williams: Tathata and the Present Day Grades of the Pirates Position Players
6/29: Jared Triolo Has Positive Recovery From Negative Start to the Year
6/29: This May Be Exactly What This Team Needed
6/28: The Key To Success For Nick GonzalesPIRATES RECAP
By Wilbur Miller
Check back at the end of the night for all of the daily results throughout the system, or, join the discussion in the comments if you’re following Live.
Final Score: Dodgers 5, Pirates 2
Player of the Game: Nick Gonzales 2-for-4
Recap:The Pirates opened their series in Los Angeles with a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers. Mitch Keller wasn’t very effective and the offense was back in slumber mode.
Dodgers’ starter Michael Grove came in with an ERA of 7.54, but the Pirates couldn’t do much with him other than run up his pitch count. They got a brief lead in the second when Jared Triolo lined a two-out single to right to drive in a run. The Bucs loaded the bases when Austin Hedges followed Triolo’s hit with an infield single, but Josh Palacios — who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and a double play out of the leadoff spot — grounded out.
Keller didn’t have much in this game, although he still managed to last five innings and strike out seven. He gave the lead back quickly in the bottom of the second on a Max Muncy home run. A second run came home when Carlos Santana couldn’t handle Jason Heyward’s hard grounder with a runner on second.
The Dodgers added a run in the fourth when Keller hit a batter with two outs and gave up an RBI double. Two more followed in the fifth. Keller gave up two singles to start the inning, then got two strikeouts, but he couldn’t complete the escape. A two-out single scored one run and an error on Santana let another in.
The Dodgers led, 5-1, going into the sixth. The Pirates managed to load the bases with one out, but Derek Shelton inexplicably let Hedges bat. Hedges managed a sacrifice fly, but down four that wasn’t what the Pirates needed. Palacios ended the threat by striking out.
The bullpen kept things from getting out of hand. Yerry De Los Santos, who’s pitching far better for the Pirates than he did for Indianapolis, threw the sixth and seventh, allowing just one baserunner. Dauri Moreta worked a scoreless eighth.
It didn’t matter, though, as the Pirates never threatened over the last three innings. They managed only two runners, on a walk and a hit batsman, and the latter was wiped out by Palacios’ double play grounder.
