When it comes to pitching at PNC Park, Mitch Keller now has more Ks than anyone in stadium history.
Not only did the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander break the stadium’s strikeouts record, Keller delivered his best performance of the season.
Keller posted seven strikeouts in seven scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday afternoon before 15,979 at PNC Park as the Pirates swept the three-game series with a trio of shutouts.
It was the sixth consecutive win for the Pirates (38-50), who beat the Cardinals by scores of 7-0 Monday and 1-0 Tuesday. The Pirates have a day off Thursday before starting a 10-day, nine-game road trip at Seattle, Kansas City and Minnesota heading into the All-Star break.
Keller (3-10) threw six shutout innings, striking out seven while allowing five hits, one walk and one hit batsman. Keller threw 61 of his 97 pitches for strikes, getting 16 called strikes with eight whiffs on 45 swings.
The 29-year-old entered the game one strikeout shy of tying Paul Maholm’s record for most strikeouts (383) of any pitcher at PNC Park. Keller did so in fewer starts (78) than Maholm (100).
After giving up a leadoff double to Brendan Donovan, Keller tied the record against the second batter he faced by getting Masyn Winn swinging at a full-count 81.9-mph sweeper low and away.
Nolan Gorman reached on a fielder’s choice and Keller hit Lars Nootbaar with a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but got Thomas Saggesse to ground out to first to keep the Cardinals scoreless.
Oneil Cruz led off the second inning with a double to left, stole third base and scored on a single to left by Tommy Pham to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
Keller struck out Winn again — this time looking at a 1-2 sinker clocked at 93.9 mph — to pass Maholm and break the record. Alec Burleson belted the next pitch for a double to center. After Keller struck out Gorman, Lars Nootbaar reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners with two outs.
Saggesse hit a sharp grounder past third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes but shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a sliding stop on his knees then threw a one-hop to first base that Spencer Horwitz snagged to escape unscathed again.
Keller allowed one more hit, a single by Pedro Pages in the fourth, then retired the final 10 batters he faced. Keller got Donovan swinging at a slider inside and at his ankle for his seventh strikeout, one shy of matching his season best (eight, against the New York Mets on May 13).
Sonny Gray (8-3) retired 12 consecutive Pirates before Nick Gonzales led off the seventh with a walk, then advanced to third on a single by Hayes. Pham singled to left to drive in Gonzales for a 2-0 lead, giving him RBIs in eight of his last nine games with five multi-RBI games.
That was it for Gray, who was replaced by Riley O’Brien. Hayes and Pham advanced on a Henry Davis groundout, and both scored when Kiner-Falefa hit a grounder through the middle for a 4-0 lead. Kiner-Falefa reached second on a wild pitch, then scored on a single to right by Horwitz for a five-run advantage.
Dennis Santana returned from his three-game suspension to pitch a scoreless eighth. Isaac Mattson recorded two outs in the ninth before giving up a single to Yohel Pozo and walking Scott before getting Donovan to pop up to Horwitz in foul territory to clinch another shutout victory by the Pirates.