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: