TLDR: Two 55-52 clubs stuck between buying and selling walked into PNC Park looking like mirror images, but Pittsburgh found a way to make Monday count when it mattered most.
First pitch went off at 6:40 PM ET with 2 of the more underrated arms in the league on the bump. Merrill Kelly came in riding a strong July, and Mitch Keller was fresh off 5 scoreless innings against the Yankees with 6 strikeouts. Both pitched like it — this had duel written all over it from the jump. With the trade deadline bearing down on both front offices, arms like these are exactly why: Kelly and Keller are 2 of the few sure things on either roster right now.
Merrill Kelly
(8-9)·4.88 ERA
Jul 22 vs Athletics
W
5.0IP
2ER
3K
1BB
87P
07/27 Lineup
Mitch Keller
(6-8)·5.29 ERA
Jul 22 @ Yankees
ND
5.0IP
0ER
6K
2BB
75P
07/27 Lineup
Arizona's rotation is running thin beyond Kelly — Zac Gallen, Corbin Burnes and Ryne Nelson are all still on the injured list, so every start he gives them carries extra weight. Pittsburgh, fresh off getting outscored 11-0 by the Cubs just 2 days earlier, needed length from Keller just to stop the bleeding. The board reflected the standoff, too — the total dropped pregame as the 2 starters loomed larger than the offenses around them.
It played out exactly like that shape suggested. Neither team touched home plate until the 6th, when Arizona finally broke through against Pittsburgh's bullpen. It didn't last.
Pittsburgh answered right back in the 6th and again in the 8th to even things up, setting up a 9th inning PNC Park won't forget anytime soon. The Pirates snuck across the winning run to send Arizona home with a 3rd straight loss on the trip, a rough finish to a stretch that opened with wins over the Cardinals and Nationals just a week ago.
Arizona GM Mike Hazen has talked about wanting to buy at next week's deadline, but nights like this are the reminder that a rotation missing 3 starters can't be papered over by 1 good month from Merrill Kelly. Pittsburgh, for its part, held onto Keller through weeks of trade rumors — and got exactly the kind of outing Monday that explains why.
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