ATLANTA — Arriving in Atlanta with their confidence in tow amid a 45-game stretch featuring some important future flashes, the Pirates lost some of their recent steam on Friday night at Truist Park. But instead of having their balloon popped by the big, bad Braves, a lopsided loss started with incremental leaks.
Third inning, six singles, five softly hit, several broken bats and the distinct possibility that not a bleepin’ one of them was a strike. Hardly mattered. The Braves MacGyver’d that into four runs, then stacked a few homers on top for good measure, resulting in an 8-2 Pirates loss in the opener of this three-game set.
"They put the ball in play," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "Not a lot of hard contact, and they were able to get runs across."
While the Pirates obviously weren't thrilled with the outcome, this one showcased the dominance of the Braves’ high-powered offense and Atlanta’s ability to beat you myriad ways.
Early on Friday, that meant going the other way with borderline pitches, a simplistic approach that has obviously led to bigger and better things for the Braves.
Their team OPS prior to the start of the game (.847) was the fifth-best in MLB since 1950. Not only that, the Braves were hitting an MLB-best .275 and had clobbered 270 home runs this season, 53 more than anyone else.
As the Pirates turned to Mitch Keller to continue a stretch where they had won seven of nine, Shelton emphasized the need to not back down from the Braves.
Keller did not. Though his fastball velocity did drop — more on that shortly — the Braves simply found a way to put bats on balls ... and they found open space.
"It's frustrating," Keller said. "That’s about all I can say about it. I’m making my pitches. I’m doing exactly what I want and giving up soft contact. It’s kind of laughable. There’s nothing else I can do."
Look at the various pitch locations. Might be one or two strikes in the bunch.
Left fielder Eddie Rosario pushed Atlanta in front 1-0 when he pulled his hands in and took an 0-2 heater up and in the other way.
Catcher Travis d’Arnaud followed by softly lining a 2-1 cutter into left field for a two-run single. The final third-inning run came when shortstop Orlando Arcia hit an outside sweeper to nearly the same spot.
The average exit velocity for the four singles: a mere 78.85 mph.
"I think you're seeing why they have [92 wins]," Shelton said. "They grind through at-bats. We didn't beat ourselves by walking guys. They executed and they're a really good offensive club."
The real Braves returned in the fourth, as right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who’s battling Mookie Betts of the Dodgers for National League MVP honors, added to his case with a 455-foot blast on a Keller heater that missed.
It was the seventh in 11 games for Acuna.
Rosario followed later in the fourth by pulling a Keller cutter over the right-field fence for a two-run bomb and a 7-0 Braves lead.
The loss dropped the Pirates (65-76) to 24-22 in their last 46. Atlanta is 16-4 against the Pirates at Truist Park since the facility opened in 2017.
ON THE MOUND
What to do about Keller?
While Keller managed to rack up 12 whiffs and missed barrels early, his four-seam fastball averaged 93.6 mph against the Braves, which is a 1.8 mph drop from his season mark (95.4 mph).
That's not nothing. At the same time, he's had the fifth-lowest ERA in MLB over the past month while racking up 37 strikeouts in 31 innings. It happened while Keller adjusted back to pitching off his hard stuff, too.
“This is a good learning thing by trying to get over the hump here and look at some mechanical things," Keller said. "I don’t know what it might be but just try to find something to get the velo back up."
Keller also brought up a fine point in his postgame interview: He's currently at 174⅔ innings on the season. He should get to 200, along with 200 strikeouts (four Friday took him to 191). If the Pirates are going to return to the postseason, those heavy numbers for someone in Keller's position aren't really optional.
“If we are going to make the postseason,” Keller said, “then I need to throw more innings than ever."
Surprising to see Shelton go away from Jason Delay, who had caught each of Keller's last five starts, but he explained that Endy Rodriguez must be capable of catching Keller, too.
“I don't think that played a factor,” Shelton said. “[Friday] was about the fact that they put the ball in play."
On a positive note, Jose Hernandez followed Keller with two excellent, scoreless innings, striking out four.
AT THE PLATE
Jack Suwinski continued to distance himself from the outfielder’s most recent funk, which he did via a two-run homer in the sixth.
Slider low. Suwinski went down and got it for his team-high 24th of the season. It was the third homer in the past 13 games for Suwinski, who had been hitting .243 with an .820 OPS since the Pirates sat him down for a few games, allowing the young hitter to clear his head.
“We're starting to see him get into a groove," Shelton said. "When he gets on a roll, you see really consistent at-bats. I think we've seen that over the last couple weeks."
The Pirates got doubles from Ji Hwan Bae and Ke’Bryan Hayes but overall couldn’t muster much against Braves starter Bryce Elder, who's 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in five starts since the Pirates beat him on Aug. 10.
QUOTABLE
"In the third inning, we gave up four runs and I think we broke four bats." — Shelton
UP NEXT
Johan Oviedo gets the ball on Saturday, looking to bounce back from allowing five runs (three earned) with six walks in 3⅔ innings this past Sunday in St. Louis.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: September 9, 2023, 1:43 a.m.
Updated: September 9, 2023, 2:23 p.m.
