Keller hit hard early, bats cool down in Pirates' first loss of the season

WASHINGTON -- Mitch Keller wasn't at his best and the Pirates' offense couldn't maintain its hot hitting in the second of a three-game series at Nationals Park. 

As a result, the perfect start to their season came to an end with a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Nationals on Wednesday night. 

Keller's lackluster final line resembled his first outing in Miami when he couldn't make it out of the sixth inning. In the season opener against the Marlins, he surrendered five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. 

Against the Nationals, Keller went five-plus for the 33rd consecutive start and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits. He walked a pair and struck out five while throwing 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes. 

Keller made it through the first inning unscathed, totaling just 15 pitches and throwing eight strikes. He was given a two-run cushion before stumbling in the home half of the second, allowing a leadoff home run to Joey Gallo that was crushed and sent 447 feet to right-center field. Keibert Ruiz singled, Eddie Rosario took his place on a fielder's choice and then Trey Lipscomb was awarded first base on a catcher's interference call. Luis Garcia followed with a double into left to tie the game and, two batters later, it was 4-2 courtesy of a two-run double by CJ Abrams. 

"I just didn't execute when I needed to," Keller said. "Giving up a four-spot in the second after we scored two is just not ideal. Tough, tough, tough second inning. I thought other than that, it was pretty good. Stratton came in and cleaned up my runs there in the sixth. So, that was huge for us to stay in the ballgame. But, just too many runs in the second."

The three early run-scoring hits were among seven extra-base hits Keller allowed in the outing. They also shared another common theme: Gallo's home run and Abram's double came on cutters that were up and in the zone, while Garcia's double was on a changeup in the same area.

"I think just whenever you're giving up hits, it's obviously not where you want to throw it," Keller said. "But yeah, I haven't gone back and looked at them. I just have to go back, watch the film on it and see where they were."

After scoring six or more runs in each of their first five games, the Pirates' offense came back down to earth with just four hits and 13 strikeouts to give them 70 through six games. Five players struck out two or more times, including the top three hitters in the batting order in Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes. Nine of the team's strikeouts occurred in the final four innings.

“We just weren’t sharp," Derek Shelton said. "Mitch left some balls up. We didn’t get to Trevor Williams.”

The former Pirates pitcher held the opposition at bay through 5 1/3 innings, walking a pair and striking out five. Williams surrendered two earned runs on three hits, including this two-run single by Michael A. Taylor that gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the top of the second: 

“He’s pretty effective at the bottom of the zone with the sinker, the changeup and then sometimes with that four-seam that he’ll run in there," said Jack Suwinski, who started off the second with a double against Williams before adding his first home run of the season after the Nationals' starter exited the game with one out in the sixth.

“He kind of mixed and matched and made us chase out of the zone," Shelton added on Williams. "That was the biggest thing. We got a couple pitches to hit and didn’t execute. And we had an opportunity for a big inning in the second and just didn’t get it.”

MORE FROM THE GAME

Three Nationals players contributed with multi-hit performances. Abrams had two hits at the top of the lineup, Gallo went 3 for 4 and was a triple shy of the cycle, and Garcia contributed with three doubles, all off Keller. 

"We just obviously didn't have an answer for him," Keller said of Garcia. "Was trying to throw everything at him. First pitch curveball, sweeper, changeup. I mean, he was on everything. Kudos to him, hats off to him. He had a great game."

A pair of Pirates relievers continued the string of solid work out of the bullpen, as Hunter Stratton and Josh Fleming combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Stratton allowed a hit and struck out one in an inning of work and Fleming gave up a hit and had two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Here's one of those Fleming strikeouts, as he finally got Garcia out on a nasty looking cutter to end the eighth: 

Washington also benefitted from three strong relief appearances from Jordan Weems, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan. They combined to throw 3 1/3 scoreless innings after Robert Garcia surrendered the late homer to Suwinski. Harvey made the big difference in the group, striking out four in 1 2/3 innings. 

“We’ll just come right back tomorrow and get ready like we know how to do," Suwinski said. "We’ll go out there, play hard and keep going.” 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Box score
• Live file
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: C Yasmani Grandal (foot), C Jason Delay (knee), 2B Ji Hwan Bae (hip).

• 15-day injured list: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (forearm), RHP Colin Holderman (illness).

• 60-day injured list: RHP Johan Oviedo (elbow), RHP Dauri Moreta (elbow), C Endy Rodriguez (elbow).

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates finish out their three-game series with the Nationals at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday. Martin Perez (0-0, 2.08 ERA) goes up against Josiah Gray (0-1, 15.75 ERA). 

THE CONTENT

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