Mitch Keller’s Stellar Performance Paves Way for 5-1 Pirates Win Over Marlins

For the first time in his career, Mitch Keller made it through seven innings on the mound for the Pirates. The strong performance paved the way to a 3-1 Pirates win over the Marlins in Miami.

Keller had only worked into the seventh inning one other time in his career, which was in his rookie season. In that start, he wasn’t able to record an out in the seventh, but he breezed through a 1-2-3 seventh inning against the Marlins on Monday night.

Keller struck out Brian Anderson to begin the frame and induced a pair of groundballs to cap off arguably his best start as a big leaguer. In his seven innings, Keller allowed one run on five hits, hit a batter but didn’t any and fanned five hitters. He threw 95 pitches, 61 for strikes.

With two on and two out, Diego Castillo dumped an 0-2 pitch into centerfield to put the Bucs ahead in the first inning.

Diego delivers! pic.twitter.com/K6DtwKad8D

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 11, 2022

Kevin Newman tacked on another run for the Pirates in the second inning when he legged out a double to centerfield, plating Jake Marisnick.

After a Josh VanMeter double, Marisnick got an 0-2 hanging breaking ball and hammered it over the fence for a two-run shot to pad the Pirates lead. It was Marisnick’s first homer in a Pirates uniform.

Welcome back, Jake! pic.twitter.com/fy56q3NhiG

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 12, 2022

The Marlins scored off of Keller in the sixth when Avisail Garcia singled home Garrett Cooper, making it a 3-1 game.

Yerry De Los Santos struck out three in the ninth to polish off the win. The Pirates have won three straight and improved to 8-5 in their last 13 games with the win.

The second game of this four game series in Miami will continue on Tuesday night. The Pirates have yet to announce who will be starting that game. Daniel Castano (1-2, 3.60) will go for the Marlins.

Takeaways

• Stellar Keller: Keller looked really strong on the hill in this one for Pittsburgh. It marked just the second time in his career that Keller reached the seventh inning, having previously done it in Aug. 2019. He didn’t allow himself to get rattled, and his command was strong. It looked like Keller’s slider really had some good bite to it throughout his outing, and picked up a few whiffs and some groundballs on the pitch. Thanks to the performance, Keller shaved 33 points off of his season ERA from 5.21 to 4.88.
• Nice Reynolds Impression : Marisnick really had an impact in this one in his first game back off the injured list, manning center field in place of the injured Bryan Reynolds. He did a little bit of it all as he recorded a homer, a double, a walk, a stolen base, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. More known for his defense, Marisnick provided a spark offensively against the Marlins.
• Down, But Not Out: Four of the Pirates five runs in this game came when Pittsburgh’s hitters were down in the count 0-2. Both Castillo’s two-run single and Marisnick’s 419-foot homerun came when the pitcher was way ahead in the count, but the bats prevailed.
• Hello, Newman: Newman had an impact in this one on both sides of the ball. At the plate, Newman’s three hits, including his RBI-double continued his strong stretch with the bat since coming off the injured list. Newman is now 7 for 18 (.389) and has hits in all four games since returning, including multi-hit performances in his last two contests. Newman also showed why he was a Gold Glove finalist a season ago with a terrific diving play up the middle. 

Kevin Newman with the play! pic.twitter.com/89rVsjPCNt

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 12, 2022