PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – A day after Quinn Priester gave up seven runs in his Major League debut, somehow Mitch Keller did worse. In his first start since pitching in the All-Star Game, the right-hander gave up eight runs on 10 hits with two walks and only one strikeout in a 10-1 Cleveland win Tuesday night.
It’s quite a contrast for Keller who in his previous start threw a one-hitter over seven innings at Arizona. His ERA rising from 3.31 to 3.79 and he is now 0-2 in July giving up 13 runs in three starts. He gave up the first four runs on seven pitches.
“They came out really aggressive and he didn't come out extremely sharp and left some balls right in the middle the plate, and they didn't miss them," said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “It was pitch execution. Mitch and I actually talked about it after he came out and he felt good. He felt like the ball was coming out good, it's just location was not good. Mitch has been pitching long enough that he's gonna run the game that way. So, it was just lack of pitch execution for two innings and he was still able to give us six and I think we saw glimpses of what we've seen most of the year, but early on, just too much in the middle of the plate."
“Just felt like they were swinging early and on pretty much everything,” Keller said. “They put good swings on pitches. Probably could have executed a little bit more.”
Connor Joe accounted for the Pirates lone Bucs run with a solo homer in the sixth. The Bucs struck out 11 times, the rookies eight of those, and have scored 10 runs this entire homestand, one this series.
“The big leagues is hard,” Shelton said. “I think we're seeing that, and we've talked about it a lot. It's a challenging game up here and there's a lot of good players. They have to stay with it. Don't let four at-bats, five at-bats, 10 at-bats, whatever, kind of define what your thought process is. We're gonna go through stretches. We had six rookies in the lineup today and it takes a while to get your footing."
3 more signed
Bucs now have 11 of their 21 draft picks signed, three more from college agree to contracts on the day first-rounder Paul Skenes agreed to the biggest slot value contract in MLB Draft history. Three pitchers-6th rounder Hunter Furtado (LHP, Alabama), 7th rounder Jaden Woods (LHP, Georgia) and 14th rounder Garret McMillan (RHP, Alabama).
Up Next
Left-handed starter Rich Hill goes for the Bucs first win of the homestand against Cleveland RHP Aaron Civale (3-2, 2.65 ERA) with Josh Rowntree hosting the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show starting at 11:30a on 100.1 FM and AM 1020, KDKA with first pitch on KDKA Radio at 12:35p.