The Pirates will have to settle for a series split with the Padres, dropping the finale, 8-3, at PNC Park Thursday afternoon.
It was another short, ineffective start from Mitch Keller, who allowed seven runs over 3 ⅓ innings. Before we dive into that, there’s another problem that needs addressed. One that applies to Keller and many of the other young pitchers.
They can’t control the running game.
The Padres swiped three bases Thursday -- one off of Keller and a successful double steal off Luis Oviedo in the sixth. That double steal produced a small ball run, as Manny Machado followed with a sacrifice fly, giving the Padres a run despite not scoring in the inning.
They also had three steals in Tuesday’s game. But it isn’t just a case of the Friars being aggressive on the basepaths. It’s been a discussion point since the first week of the season.
“I wouldn’t read anything into it at this point,” Derek Shelton said on April 5. “I think we do need to do a better job at times with our holds, our looks and our times. Some of it's just been, runners picking the right pitch to run on. There's a combination of both things, but it's nothing that Jacob’s [Stallings] done.”
The Pirates have allowed 13 stolen bases as a team, the most in the majors, with only two caught stealings. One of those failed attempts came Thursday, but it needs an asterisk because Eric Hosmer had no intention of actually reaching second base. He purposefully pulled up to try to get in a rundown to give Machado a chance to score from third. It didn’t work.
Eyeballing it, Hosmer would have reached second base safely.
Only so much blame can be put on Stallings and backup catcher Michael Perez. Going by the most recent data available, both have good pop times and arm strength. They have decent track records throwing out runners. It's unlikely that they would have drastic drop-offs this year.
More than a handful of those stolen bases, including Thursday’s double steal, were uncontested. When that happens, it’s on the pitcher.
Oviedo has now allowed the most stolen bags with three. Keller now has allowed two. David Bednar has allowed two, both on Tuesday that were timed up so well that Stallings had no play. Duane Underwood Jr. was on the hook for one. There are talented young pitchers on the roster, and some growing pains are expected. The goal needs to be to minimize the self-inflicted damage.
It’s one thing that baserunners are 2-for-2 against Chad Kuhl or 2-for-3 against Tyler Anderson. They’re not going to be Pirates for the long term.
”It's something that we're going to have to continue to work on and get better on,” Shelton said after the game. “I think we saw a team right here that's uber-aggressive. They're athletic 1-9, they're looking to move, and it's something that we have to be better at.”
Whether it’s extra work on pickoffs, mixing up delivery times or something else, it needs rectified. The Padres aren’t going to be the last team to take advantage on the bases. It’s something the Pirates themselves wanted to do more of this year. It’s tough to separate success on the bases offensively and failures defensively.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Onto Keller's day.
It has been an up-and-down year for him thus far, leaning more towards down.
He was wild and ineffective in the first appearance. The second was one of the best starts in his young major league career, getting his best results with the high fastball. Thursday, he was mostly in the zone, but was clobbered there.
It included Machado turning on one of the meatiest of meatballs for a two-run homer off a hanging first inning slider:
That came following a Jake Cronenworth double, off a hanging breaking pitch, part of a four-run first.
"If I take away those two pitches, I think the outcome of that first inning is completely different," Keller said.
Shelton said he didn't think Keller had the spin he wanted on the breaking pitch. He continued to hang the slider and curve throughout the outing, especially early.
"It was more in-zone breaking ball instead of the sharpness of the breaking ball, and I think that's what got him in a little bit of an issue," Shelton said.
Once the Padres hit his breaking stuff hard, Keller relied more on the fastball, which they also caught up to later in his outing.
Keller allowed seven runs over 3 1/3 innings on nine hits and three walks. He struck out just one.
Fastball wise, after using it effectively in his start Saturday, due in part to a more consistent release point, it looked more erratic again Thursday:
BASEBALL SAVANT
Any positives to take form this one?
"He attacked the zone," Shelton said. "He was in the zone, so that's encouraging. We continue to take steps forward with it."
• Keller put the Pirates in a 6-0 hole early, but they rallied in the bottom of the second, scoring a run on an Erik Gonzalez double and loading the bases with only one out. Keller came up to bat, and Shelton opted to let his pitcher bat instead of trying to maximize the rally.
"We need to get Mitch stretched out," Shelton said. "We need him."
Keller struck out, and Frazier grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.
The Pirates' only other runs came on a two-out dropped fly ball by right fielder Tucupita Maracano in the fifth.
• Machado's sacrifice fly was the only run Oviedo allowed in his two innings of work, his first outing since taking the loss Monday. He walked two, did not allow a hit and struck out one.
"I thought he was better," Shelton said. "He came out, he was a tad erratic in the first inning, and I thought Stalls did a nice job. He bounced right back and had a quick second inning, and it was good to see."
• Anthony Alford and Perez both have batting averages now. Alford blooped a base hit in the fifth, snapping the 0-for-19 streak he had to start the season. Perez, pinch-hitting in the ninth, broke his bat for a hit up the middle in his 12th at-bat of the year.
"I was really happy for both those guys to be able to check that off," Shelton said.
• Clay Holmes is going to have to wear that bad outing against the Reds for awhile, but he had another quality outing Thursday, getting five outs without allowing a baserunner. Even dating back to spring training, he has really only had one bad outing so far this year. It looks like he has a better feel for how to use his spin and movement.
Something to watch going forward.
• Ben Cherington spoke to the media before the game. Gerard has the story here.
• Factoid of the night: With the exception of Jurickson Profar, who went 2-for-4, every starter in the Padres' lineup had at least one hard-hit ball (95+ mph exit velocity) Thursday.
Of the 15 hard-hit balls they had, 10 were off Keller. That's tied for the most allowed by a Pirates pitcher this year, the other being Trevor Cahill's first outing on April 6.
• It was Jackie Robinson day, the 74th anniversary of him breaking the color barrier. Let us never forget what he represents, not just for baseball, but the country.
THE ESSENTIALS
Boxscore
Video Highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Kevin Newman, SS
Bryan Reynolds, LF
Colin Moran, 1B
Erik Gonzalez, 3B
Gregory Polanco, RF
Jacob Stalilngs, C
Dustin Fowler, CF
Mitch Keller, P
And for Jayce Tingler's Padres:
Trent Grisham, CF
Jurickson Profar, LF
Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Manny Machado, 3B
Eric Hosmer, 1B
Ha-Seong Kim, SS
Turcupita Marcano, RF
Luis Campusano, C
Chris Paddack, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates are heading to Milwaukee to start a three game series with the Brewers. JT Brubaker (1-0, 1.93) will take on Adrian Houser (1-1, 1.80), with first pitch coming at 8:10 p.m. Eastern Time. Gerard will be taking the first leg of the road trip.
THE CONTENT
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