Mitch Keller tosses complete game, Edward Olivares hits grand slam as Pirates top Angels

Mitch Keller was soaked with sweat from the heat and humidity and just seven pitches shy of reaching 100, but the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander made it clear that he wanted the ball for the ninth inning.

“Just empty the tank,” Keller said. “They’re giving me the opportunity, just give it everything I’ve got. Get strike one and keep going.”

Keller came out firing, striking out the first two batters before getting a fly ball to center for the final out for the second complete game of his career and his best start of the season.

Behind Keller’s pitching and a third-inning grand slam by Edward Olivares, the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1, on Monday night before 9,506 at PNC Park for their third consecutive win.

Keller (3-3) allowed five hits, including a home run, and one walk while striking out five while wearing the same ballcap as his first complete game, which came almost a year to the day in a four-hit shutout against the Colorado Rockies on May 8, 2023. And he gave a hat tip to Pirates manager Derek Shelton and pitching coach Oscar Marin for trusting him to finish off the Angels, despite sitting at 93 pitches.

“I’m super grateful that Shelty and Oscar and everybody who let me go back out there because I was feeling good. That, obviously, was the best I felt all year,” Keller said. “That was a 4-1 game, a save opportunity. Having them have trust in me to finish the game was awesome.”

Keller showed his best pitch mix, relying on a sinker that generated 15 groundouts and complementing it with his four-seam fastball, cutter and sweeper in throwing 75 of his 109 pitches for strikes in a game that lasted only one hour, 55 minutes.

“He got quick outs. He was in the zone. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Shelton said. “He was in attack mode and by doing that, he kind of put them back on defense a little bit.”

Where Keller retired the first six batters he faced, the Pirates (17-19) stranded runners in each of the first two innings against Angels lefty Tyler Anderson (2-4). Bryan Reynolds singled in the first, and Olivares doubled and Jared Triolo drew a walk in the second.

When they loaded the bases in the third on Andrew McCutchen’s full-count walk, a Reynolds double and a Ke’Bryan Hayes walk, Olivares came to the plate. Olivares had a .133 batting average (2 for 15) and no extra-base hits with the bases loaded and had never recorded a hit with one out and the bases loaded.

This time, Olivares didn’t miss his chance. He crushed Anderson’s first pitch, an 81.5-mph cutter over the middle of the plate, 424 feet to the left field seats for a grand slam to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead.

It was the fourth homer of the season and first career grand slam for Olivares. Jack Suwinski hit a slam in the sixth inning of a 9-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on April 14. The Pirates hit two slams last season, one each by Tucupita Marcano and Suwinski.

“I didn’t know that was his first career grand slam,” Shelton said. “Couldn’t have come at a better time.”

The Angels responded with Nolan Schanuel hitting a line-drive single to left and then attempting to score from first on Mickey Moniak’s double to the right-center gap. Center fielder Michael A. Taylor hit shortstop Oneil Cruz on the cutoff throw, and Cruz fired the relay to catcher Joey Bart in time to tag Schanuel out before he crossed home plate.

“That’s a heck of a play,” Shelton said. “There aren’t many shortstops in the game that are making that throw at that time. It’s one of the things that Mendy (Lopez) has continued to talk to Cruz about is, just be aggressive with your feet. When you are aggressive with your feet, your right arm is a weapon and I think we saw it today.”

Keller got Taylor Ward to line out to left and struck out Willie Calhoun to leave Moniak stranded at second. Keller got the Angels to ground into double plays to end the third and fifth innings but surrendered his only run on a one-out solo shot by Zach Neto in the sixth.

Neto sent a 1-0 cutter low and way 408 feet to center field for his third homer to cut the Pirates’ lead to three runs. Moniak singled to right but Keller got Taylor Ward to ground into a forceout.

The Pirates got a scare when Cruz singled to right but stumbled out of the box in the bottom of the sixth. Shelton and assistant trainer Tony Leo checked on Cruz, who tested his surgically repaired left ankle by jogging down the right field line and then remained in the game.

Willie Calhoun hit a leadoff double in the seventh, but Keller got a pair of groundouts to Hayes at third and then made a nice play to get the final out. When Keller went back out for the ninth, his teammates felt the energy inside the ballpark become elevated.

“When we were shifted over and seeing some of the spots he’s hitting, the swings some guys were taking, you definitely could tell he had good stuff,” Triolo said. “When he came back out for the ninth inning, the crowd got into and realized what was happening. That was awesome.”

Keller got Moniak swinging on three pitches, Ward looking at a 2-2 sweeper and Calhoun to fly out to center to put the finishing touch on his complete game.

“He emptied it,” Pirates catcher Joey Bart said. “It’s really hard to do what he did, especially in that last inning when you’re coming out and it’s hot and humid and you’re sweating and you’re just chugging water and your hands are soaking wet. There’s a lot more into it than what you see on TV. That’s what makes it important and special, and that’s what makes him a special starter. … He still had it in there late. When he comes into the dugout and says he wants it, we’re going to let him have it.”