Look no further than Mitch Keller when examining the Pirates’ 9-6 loss to the Royals on Wednesday at PNC Park.
Although Pittsburgh (12-12) showed some fight, slicing a six-run deficit to one in the middle innings, it’s hard to ignore what happened with Keller.
For his own sake, first and foremost, but because it was the start of a game the Pirates have mostly avoided while winning 11 of 16 since a six-game losing streak.
Keller wasn’t good. There’s no other way to say it. He needed 47 pitches to escape the first, walked five and recorded just seven outs. His inability to pound the zone simply can’t happen. But this start felt like it represented more than that, enough to think a little more big-picture.
None of this is ideal, but the solution shouldn’t be to banish Keller to the minors or designate him for assignment. Those are emotional overreactions. Keller’s struggles mean he and the Pirates have work to do, and that’s OK.
Ability isn’t the issue. Last week in Detroit, Keller allowed two runs over five, walked none and struck out five. Two starts before that, Keller gave up one run over five to the Cubs, walking one and striking out seven.
The goods are there. Keller and the Pirates simply need to bring them out more consistently.
If you weren’t screaming that Keller needed time in the minors after his last start, why in the world does it make sense to do that now, after a night where Keller clearly didn’t have a feel for much?
At the same time, it’s fair to expect improvement and consistency from someone who been described as a top-of-the-rotation starter.
Pitching in Class AAA might help Keller bank results, but what would it accomplish? He still has to be consistent here. He has been good here and hasn’t been able to sustain it. What would going down do to change that?
The best way for Keller to gain confidence is with hard work and an honest assessment of what’s ailing him. By figuring out why his slider looked flat, why he’s been unable to execute breaking balls ahead in counts or why he’s been unable to consistently command his fastball.
Meanwhile, Keller’s start was only a precursor of more problems. After the Pirates made it a 6-5 game, Adam Frazier committed an error in the sixth inning — the Pirates had just one of those in their previous 79 frames when it happened — and the Royals, as good teams do, made them pay.
A strikeout of catcher Salvador Perez should have ended the inning. Instead, right fielder Jorge Soler and left fielder Andrew Benintendi stroked back-to-back doubles, scoring a total of three runs and pushing the game out of reach.
The Pirates lost for just the second time in 12 tries when scoring four or more runs. They split the two-game set with Kansas City and are 4-0-2 over their past six series.
Starting pitching (2.25 ERA over the past five) wasn’t the only thing to falter, either. The bullpen entered the game with a 0.97 ERA over its past 13 games, but Sean Poppen and Chris Stratton combined to allow that same number of runs on Wednesday in 3 2/3 innings of work.
Trailing 6-0 after four, the Pirates improbably made this a one-run game, picking up the final two of that outburst in the fifth inning thanks to Todd Frazier’s first hit as a Pirate: a two-run double to right-center.
A former member of the Reds and Mets (among other teams), Frazier has plenty of experience playing in PNC Park. He’s had plenty of success, too, as he’s now hitting .307 (47-for-153) in 40 games, with 10 doubles, eight home runs and 25 RBIs.
The Pirates had a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth; however, Kevin Newman flied out to center to end the threat.
Royals right fielder Jorge Soler (double) and third baseman Hunter Dozier (two-run triple) combined to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
The fourth run Keller allowed came in the third, after he issued back-to-back walks to load the bases, and Poppen walked the first man he faced: center fielder Michael A. Taylor.
A liner from Perez confused Pirates right fielder Wilmer Difo and plated a fifth run before Soler’s single pushed a sixth run across.
The Pirates answered in the bottom of the fourth, getting home runs from Erik Gonzalez and Jacob Stallings, the first one an absolute rocket.
Turning on an inside fastball, Gonzalez hit this 453 feet at 109.8 for what was the longest and hardest home run of Gonzalez’s career.
Stallings followed the two-run shot with a homer of his own … or, more accurately, with a little help from Taylor, who lost the ball when crashing into the wall.
Although the Pirates added another run in the eighth on an RBI-single from Phillip Evans, things going sideways as they did in the sixth proved costly.
