ANAHEIM, Calif. — Bouncing back from losses has been one of Mitch Keller’s hallmarks this season, his first as an All-Star. Each of the previous four times Keller came out on the wrong end of a decision, the 27-year-old right-hander took the mound his next time out intent on proving a point.
In four such outings prior to Sunday, Keller had a 0.60 ERA, gobbling up 30 innings while walking eight and striking out 18. Yet with the Pirates aiming to take a series from the Angels, Keller couldn’t summon any of that get-back mojo.
Instead, Keller allowed three home runs for the first time in his career, and the Angels polished off the Pirates with a 7-5 victory. It was the second straight rough outing for Keller, who has given up 14 earned runs in 11 innings since the break. Sound-the-alarm territory? Keller doesn’t think so.
"I feel really good," Keller said. "Stuff felt probably the best it has all year. I don’t know. We’ll have to get back to work and figure out what’s going on."
Same for the Pirates as a whole, although that has been a common and frustrating theme to this season.
Pittsburgh dropped to 4-14 in July, 43-56 on the season. After the Pirates went 20-8 and boasted a run differential of plus-53, they’ve since gone 23-48. Their run differential in that span: -127.
To win 74 games, the Pirates would have to close with a 31-32 mark over their final 63, which feels like a breakneck pace at this point. If they continue playing .324 ball, as they have since their strong start, that will equate to a 63-99 season.
It was a one-run game when the Angels erupted for four in the fifth, the first two coming via homers on successive pitches from Keller.
The No. 9 hitter, shortstop Andrew Velazquez, turned on a two-strike sweeper, sending it over the short fence in right. Second baseman Luis Rengifo then ambushed a first-pitch changeup, driving it out to center for a 4-1 Angels lead.
"I was trying to get ahead and left it too much middle-middle," Keller said. "He put a good swing on it."
Left fielder Taylor Ward followed a couple batters later with a bloop single to right, the ball falling just in front of Henry Davis for a run-scoring single. Catcher Matt Thaiss tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it a 6-1 game. Rengifo homered for a second time in the sixth.
Keller worked five innings and allowed six earned runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out seven. He had 15 whiffs and saw an uptick in velocity, though it hardly mattered. Over his past 11 starts, Keller has allowed four or more earned runs seven times, pitching to a 5.51 ERA.
“The stuff looks great," Austin Hedges said. “It’s that part of the year where he’s been doing well for so long that teams have a good plan against him. It’s up to us to start combatting that plan a little bit differently."
The Pirates made things interesting late once old friend Tyler Anderson left the game. Liover Peguero doubled home a run in the seventh, then scored on an error charged to Angels pitcher Jacob Webb. Carlos Santana smacked a low-and-away fastball to left-center for a two-run double, cutting the Angels’ lead to 7-5.
"We're trying to fight back all the time," Peguero said.
The first inning featured Bryan Reynolds and Shohei Ohtani trading solo homers before the Angels grabbed the lead by opening the second with three consecutive hits.
First baseman Eduardo Escobar pounced on a misplaced cutter from Keller. Escobar lined it toward the wall in right-center, giving the Angels a 2-1 advantage.
It had been a quiet series through two days for Ohtani, the two-way sensation going 0 for 5 with four strikeouts while also walking three times. That changed in the first inning Sunday, when Ohtani crushed a decent pitch from Keller.
Second inning. Full count. Ohtani showed one of countless ways he’s elite by going down to get a cutter low in the zone and blistering it on a line — 112.9 mph at a launch angle of just 19 degrees — to center for his MLB-high 36th home run of the season.
It also marked Ohtani’s first career bomb against the Pirates and started what would be a frustrating run of contact against Keller.
"It looked like he got away from his fastball a little bit," Shelton said. "Had some situations where he could have used it and got beat with secondary stuff."
Added Keller, "I need to hit the video room and see what’s going on, see what’s different from the beginning of the year to now. Just go from there and get to work."
ON THE MOUND
The Pirates had a tough time against Anderson, the funky lefty who spent part of 2021 with them. It was in large part due to his changeup, which was outstanding.
Anderson pitched into the seventh, allowing four earned runs on eight hits. It was curious to see Angels manager Phil Nevin stick with Anderson as long as he did, with the left-hander seemingly out of gas. That fatigue may have contributed to the Pirates’ four-run seventh, but before that, Anderson was really good.
Anderson walked one and struck out five. The 15 whiffs he caught on his changeup represented a career-high for him. They’re also the most any MLB pitcher has achieved on a changeup this season.
"That’s probably about as good a changeup as we’ve seen him have," Shelton said. "When you have a bunch of young hitters who are seeing him for the first time, the [hitch] in his delivery can cause issues. Today, I think we saw a combination of both."
AT THE PLATE
The home run for Reynolds followed a two-hit night for him on Saturday and came on the type of pitch he has struggled to drive this season: a fastball. But after Anderson fell behind 2-0, Reynolds blasted a heater 422 feet to center for his 10th.
It was just the third homer for Reynolds in his past 37 games. Interesting, eight of Reynolds’ 10 home runs this season have come away from PNC Park.
Peguero had been due for a game like this. Promoted with Endy Rodriguez early last week, Peguero had been 0 for 12 before going the other way with an elevated fastball to score Nick Gonzales and make it a 7-2 game.
"I’ve been trying to do some things at the plate," Peguero said. "It’s been hard, but I feel like I’m gonna find my rhythm and go from there."
QUOTABLE
“He’s left more balls in good hitting zones. When you leave the ball in the hitting zone, you’re gonna get hit.” — Shelton on Keller.
UP NEXT
Quinn Priester will make his second MLB start on Monday against the Padres opposite Yu Darvish. It will be Darvish’s bobblehead night at Petco Park, celebrating his 3,000-plus strikeouts between Japan and MLB.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: July 23, 2023, 10:59 p.m.
Updated: July 24, 2023, 2:06 p.m.
