PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Former Pirates sixth round pick Robbie Grossman and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera each with four hits as the Tigers avoided a sweep with a 5-1 win Wednesday.
Grossman traded to the Astros in 2012 as part of the package for pitcher Wandy Rodriguez. The lefty-hitter is having a career season at age 31 hitting his 22nd home run.
The 38-year-old Cabrera drove in 3 runs, now with 66 RBI.
“He’s the best right-handed hitter I’ve ever seen,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “He had good swings. Tonight, we didn’t make bad pitches to him.”
Mitch Keller started going five innings giving up four runs on 10 hits with a walk and six strikeouts. It continues the confounding year by Keller, following up six shutout innings at the Cubs with Wednesday night’s performance.
Manager Derek Shelton says it’s different than when Keller was alternating good and bad starts earlier in the season.
“I actually thought he threw the ball pretty well,” Shelton said. “He had one walk. He threw a fastball above the zone to a guy who is going to the Hall of Fame when he retires and he took a good swing at it.”
“He continued to attack. He continued to execute. Mitch earlier in the year a couple of those innings we would have seen a bad pitch & it would have turned into a four-run inning. He was able to minimize damage. I think that’s a sign of growth.”
“I thought I threw pretty-well,” Keller said. “Some situations I thought I made pretty good pitches and balls found holes. I don’t think I would change anything we did tonight. I thought we executed our game plan that we wanted to do. It just didn’t go our way.”
“I thought he threw the ball pretty well,” said Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings. “We just really couldn’t get Grossman or Miggy out today.”
It’s Keller’s 11th loss of the year and the ERA now at 6.29.
Injury Updates
JT Brubaker left his last start September 4 after he skipped the previous start. Pirates confirm he’s dealing with right shoulder discomfort. He won’t throw for about a week, but is feeling better. Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk expects a full recovery.
Brubaker carried over from good starts in 2020 going 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA in April. The 27-year-old righty threw 27.1 innings walking five and striking out 30. On the season, Brubaker is 5-13 with a 5.36 ERA.
Pirates also expect a full recovery for reliever Duane Underwood, also with right shoulder inflammation. Underwood is done for the season on the 60-day injured list.
Infielder Michael Chavis (right elbow) is not ready for full throwing yet. The 26-year-old has gone through light hitting activities. Tomczyk said he is making steady progress. Chavis is 8 for 22 with a homer in 6 games with the Pirates since being acquired from the Red Sox.
Grasshoppers’ Go Crazy Again
A day after hitting for the cycle and driving in 7, 24-year-old shortstop Aaron Shackelford hit a grand slam. 23-year-old catcher Blake Sabol hit his 10th homer, a 3-run shot, now with 30 RBI in 43 games. Sabol was the Pirates seventh round pick in 2019. So this is his first year full year in pro baseball.
It’s the Grasshoppers seventh double digit run game since August 22, final 13-4 over Jersey Shore.
Former first round pick Quinn Priester started-4 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, a walk and 3 strikeouts. That breaks the streak of three straight shutouts with 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.
Draft Pick shining
Not the name of Henry Davis or the pair of draft picks who shunned Power 5 football teams to play baseball, but the Pirates 5th round pick continues to shine.
Jackson Glenn from Dallas Baptist was 2 for 3 in the first game of a doubleheader for Low A Bradenton. The right-hand 3B is hitting .389 with 12 doubles and 15 RBI. Glenn has hits in 20 of his 22 professional games.