Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates' Ace Does Something Not Done Since Gerrit Cole in Team History

All the talk these days for the Pittsburgh Pirates is about Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. Perhaps we shouldn't forget about veteran ace Mitch Keller, either.

Brady Farkas

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller (23) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at PNC Park on June 7.
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller (23) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at PNC Park on June 7. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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These days, all the talk when it comes to Pittsburgh Pirates pitching is about Paul Skenes and Jared Jones.

And while the youngsters are certainly electric, perhaps we shouldn't forget about veteran ace Mitch Keller, either.

The righty, who was the Opening Day starter for the Pirates this year, earned the win on Friday night as the Pirates beat the Twins 3-0 at PNC Park.

Keller moved to 8-3 with a 3.16 ERA after the performance. He worked 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and two walks. He struck out eight and did something not done in nearly the last decade of team history.

Per @MLBStats on social media:

Mitch Keller wins his six straight start.

He's the first Pirate to do so since Gerrit Cole in 2015.

Considering Cole is the best Pirates' pitcher of the 2000s, that's great company to be in. The 28-year-old Keller has now struck out 74 batters over 79.2 innings this year. He's in the sixth year of his career, all with the Pirates. Lifetime, he's 33-41 with a 4.50 ERA. He won a career-high 13 games last year and has a chance to surpass that this year. Keller was also named an All-Star in 2023.

The Pirates are now 30-33 on the season while the Twins dropped to 33-30.

The two teams will play again on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. Simeon Woods-Richardson (MIN) pitches against Carmen Mlodzinski (PIT).

Woords-Richardson is 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA for Minnesota while Mlodzinski is 0-2 with a 6.75.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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