Answering calls to trust his rotation, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly left a dominant Mitch Keller in to face Seattle, only for a two-run homer to derail Pittsburgh’s momentum.
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly has been criticized for pulling his starting pitchers from games too early this season, and some of the heat has been justified.
So, Kelly tried something different on Tuesday night when he sent Mitch Keller out for the seventh inning with a 2-1 lead over the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park. Yet when Kelly did what the media and fans have wanted for weeks, it backfired.
Luke Raley led off the seventh with a double, and Cole Young followed with a two-run home run into the right field stands in the first MLB game he had played in his hometown. Just like that, the Mariners had a 3-2 lead and made it stand up, sending the Pirates to their third loss in four games and dropping them under .500 at 39-40.
A case could be made that Kelly should have brought left-hander Mason Montgomery in to face Raley and Young, both left-handed hitters in the Mariners’ American League West-leading lineup. Keller was then lifted after walking right-handed batter Victor Robles.
However, it would be unfair to pin the loss on Kelly. After going 1-3 with a 7.64 ERA in his previous seven starts, Keller was sharp and never seemed to labor.
“We thought about it,” Kelly said of potentially taking Keller out after the sixth inning. “Mitch had pitched so well up until that point. We had Monty ready for later. We were trying to get Mitch through Robles, but unfortunately, it didn't work out. But he had pitched so well up until that point. Trusting him to go back out.”
Indeed, Keller showed the form he had early in the season when he went 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA in his first eight starts. On Tuesday night, Keller allowed three runs and seven hits while striking out four and walking one.
The other run off Keller also left the ballpark as Cal Raleigh led off the fourth inning to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1.
“Definitely a lot of positives from the way it's been going,” Keller said. “Just a couple pitches I would want back, obviously. Good team; a couple of guys made some good swings. Just not enough.”
The Mariners consistently put the ball in the air against Keller with 11 flyouts and two groundouts, which was aberrational, and he had no explanation.
“I have no control over where they put the ball,” Keller said. “Obviously, I'm trying to just keep them in the yard. Didn't do that tonight.”
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