After winning 13-3 in the series opener, the Pittsburgh Pirates will be looking to win the three-game series from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. That’s because they lost 4-3 on Saturday evening.
Mitch Keller came into the game with two straight scoreless appearances, including a shutout. His scoreless streak ended quickly in this game, but he still had another strong outing.
Keller allowed a first inning homer to Ketel Marte, who was the second batter of the game. He didn’t allow another run until the sixth inning, retiring 16 batters in a row at one point.
The Diamondbacks got a run in the sixth with two outs when Keller hit Josh Rojas, who was then singled to second base on an infield hit by Marte. After a double steal, another infield hit brought in a run off the bat of Corbin Carroll. Keller got a ground out to end the inning and his day.
Keller left with no walks and eight strikeouts. He threw 58 of 84 pitches for strikes. He now has a 2.44 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 62.2 innings.
The Pirates did all of their scoring in the third inning. It started with a single by Austin Hedges. He moved to second on a ground out by Andrew McCutchen. Bryan Reynolds walked, then Carlos Santana walked to load the bases, following an out by Jack Suwinski.
With two outs, Ke’Bryan Hayes came through with the clutch three-run triple, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead at the time.
After Keller left, Robert Stephenson quickly lost the lead, with what turned out to be the final runs of the game as well. He gave up a single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to start the seventh. That was followed immediately by a two-run homer from Pavin Smith.
The Pirates got a double by Suwinski in the eighth and a walk to pinch-hitter Rodolfo Castro to start the ninth, but that was all they could do over the final three innings.
Jose Hernandez, Dauri Moreta and David Bednar threw scoreless ball over the final 2.1 innings for the Pirates.
The Milwaukee Brewers lost on Saturday, leaving them in a first place tie with the Pirates. Both teams have 24-21 records.
Game three of the series is Sunday at 1:35 PM with Roansy Contreras on the mound.
