ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- There are a couple ways to interpret Mitch Keller's performance the second inning of the Pirates' 4-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field Friday.
Keller would issue his only walk of the evening in that 37-pitch frame, and the real mistake of the frame was a balk that brought a run home. But a free pass and a free base does not by itself result in a three-run inning.
No, it was base hits. In this case, ground ball base hits. In fact, almost every batted ball the Rays had on the day was either a pop up or a ground ball, the two exceptions being a Josh Lowe flare and Yandy Díaz fly out.
Baseball Savant tracked Keller's batted balls by launch angle, and almost all of them were beat straight into the ground:
(For reference, Baseball Savant shows spray charts of how what specific launch angles produce.)
For someone who is relying on the sinker more and more -- Keller threw it 32 times out of his 96 pitches -- that's exactly the type of results he and the Pirates want to see, even if he was on the hook for three runs over five frames.
"Shelty [Derek Shelton] told me as he was taking me out, ground ball singles are gonna happen," Keller said. "Stuff’s gonna happen, they're gonna find holes. It's just how can you limit the damage. I felt like we limited it pretty well."
Had one of those ground balls not found the outfield grass, Keller could have potentially limited the damage. Neither was particularly well struck, either, with Baseball Savant giving expected batting averages of .290 and .420 on the RBI hits by Luke Raley and Jonathan Aranda.
As it would turn out, Díaz's flyout and Lowe's flare were the only two batted balls that Baseball Savant gave at least a 50% chance of falling in for a hit. Keller would allow four hits on the night.
Keller didn't dwell on those early runs, though, and after the Pirates were retired in order in a quick top of the third, Keller ran out to the pitcher's mound well before any of his teammates were ready to take the field again. He was ready to go.
In his mind, he could still go six innings and get a quality start. He fell a frame short of that, but five innings, three runs was enough to keep his team in the game, even if he couldn't catch a break.
"I really wanted to make sure I was out there for the third and really getting back on it," Keller said. "Really picking up the tempo a little bit.
"I think his mental mindset is better," Shelton said.
For Keller, it's been a combination of a better mindset and revamped stuff that is leading to his recent success. Since rejoining the rotation on May 31, he has recorded a 2.96 ERA over 27 1/3 innings and kept his team in every game. It's an encouraging sign for one of the most important pitchers in the organization.
And if his worst start in almost a month is the product of some ground ball hits on good sinkers, that's not going to change things.
"It would be different if there were balls in the gap or balls out of the ballpark if the sinker was up, but it wasn't," Shelton said. "It was just ground ball base hits."
GETTY
Oneil Cruz waits for the throw on a stolen base attempt in the second inning Friday.
• Keller put the Pirates in a hole early, but he limited the damage after that second inning and saw his team catch up to the Rays with three solo shots from Michael Chavis, Diego Castillo and Hoy Park.
The Pirates had a golden chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th after Park legged out an infield single to put runners on the corners with the top of the lineup up, but Jack Suwinski, Bryan Reynolds and Chavis each failed to get the run home.
In the bottom of the 10th, automatic runner Vidal Brujan stole third with one out ,and that stolen base played immediate dividends, as Harold Ramirez rolled one through a drawn-in infield that shortstop Oneil Cruz may have been able to get to at normal depth. This way, it was a game-winning single.
"I think we just had a bad exchange," Shelton said about the defense on the stolen base play. "[Second baseman Yu] Chang was right on top of him. He got a good, not great jump. And I think if we execute a throw, we probably throw him out."
• Chavis has been an above-average hitter this year, due in very large part to his work against lefties. He went 2-for-5 Friday, with four of those at-bats coming against lefties. In 84 plate appearances where he has the hand advantage, he has homered five times and slashed .312/.357/.558.
"I've been feeling comfortable in the box, and I've been appreciative for the consistent at-bats I've been getting," Chavis said on his success against southpaws. "So maybe it's just playing more against lefties lately or something like that, but I'm starting to feel comfortable, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be in there every day right now."
• The Pirates need every single one of those hits against lefties, because their lineup is incredibly lefty heavy. Facing southpaw Jeffrey Springs, the Pirates started six left-handed hitters, and there weren't many options to replace them outside of Chang and Tyler Heineman, both of whom were used as pinch-hitters in the ninth.
• Cruz went 2-for-4 with a couple strikeouts and did not drive in a run. That last part means he just missed out on a chance at history. Taking into consideration his two games from 2021, Cruz drove in a run in his first six major-league games, tied with George Shuba of the 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers for the longest streak in National League history. The longest streak in MLB history is Dale Alexander of the 1929 Tigers, who picked up an RBI in his first seven games.
• Ke'Bryan Hayes' left shoulder was more sore than he was Thursday, hence why he was not in the lineup Friday. The hope is to get him back into the lineup this weekend series.
• Before the game, the Pirates selected the contract of right-hander Austin Brice and designated Jerad Eickhoff for assignment.
Brice has had some success with Class AAA Indianapolis, pitching to a 3.04 ERA over 26 2/3 innings, picking up five saves. Talking to him before the game, he brought up how his abbreviated camp and a need to rediscover himself as a pitcher led to a tough cameo during spring training, but that he thinks he has figured some stuff out.
"I certainly needed to be there," Brice said. "It wasn't a thing where I was salty. I needed to be there. I needed to work on some stuff."
• This series is a homecoming for Shelton, who spent seven years as the Rays' hitting coach from 2010-2016.
"It’s special," Shelton said before the game. "No. 1, the Rays organization is special to me. I spent seven years there and have a lot of great memories. Then the second thing, it’s home. It’s been home for almost 25 years now. So to be able to come home and have friends and family there, it’s going to be really cool.”
• The Yankees were just at the Trop for a series before the Pirates got to town, and Jameson Taillon left a couple presents for Shelton: A bottle of Blanton's and a bottle of Eagle Rare, two hard-to-find bourbons. Shelton and a couple players from that 2020 team -- including Taillon, Joe Musgrove and Trevor Williams -- trade bottles when they visit the other team's ballpark.
"Pretty good start to the trip for me," Shelton joked.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Ben Gamel (hamstring), 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo (lumbar muscle strain), Josh VanMeter (finger)
• 15-day injured list: RHP Zach Thompson (forearm), LHP Dillon Peters (back)
• 60-day injured list: SS Kevin Newman (groin), OF Jake Marisnick (thumb) OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery), Roberto Pérez (hamstring, out for season)
• COVID injured list: INF/OF Tucupita Marcano, RHP Duane Underwood Jr.
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Jack Suwinski, LF
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Michael Chavis, 1B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Diego Castillo, 2B
6. Oneil Cruz, SS
7. Cal Mitchell, RF
8. Michael Perez, C
9. Hoy Park, 3B
And for Kevin Cash's Rays:
1. Randy Arozarena, DH
2. Ji-Man Choi, 1B
3. Yandy Díaz, 3B
4. Josh Lowe, RF
5. Luke Raley, LF
6. Taylor Walls, SS
7. Jonathan Aranda, 2B
8. René Pinto, C
9. Brett Phillips, CF
THE SCHEDULE
Game two between the Pirates and Rays will be a matinee, with JT Brubaker (1-7, 4.11) taking on Corey Kluber (3-4, 3.46). First pitch will be at 1:10 p.m.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
