For the Pittsburgh Pirates to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in four of five games, as they have done this season, all is well.
In the Pirates’ second straight victory over the best team in the National League, a 5-3 victory Tuesday night in front of a noisy crowd of 52,686 at Dodger Stadium, he took:
• A couple of home runs in the form of two-run homers by Michael Chavis and Tucupita Marcano that put the Pirates 4-0 up at the end of the second inning.
• Clutch, albeit erratic, pitching starter Mitch Keller, who tries to gain the trust of coach Derek Shelton to stay in the rotation. To that end, he may have found a new field that could help make this a reality.
• Relevant solid exits totaling four innings from four pitchers (none named David Bednar, by the way). Tyler Beede, Duane Underwood Jr., Chris Stratton and Wil Crowe conceded two hits, and no wins. They combined to get six. Stratton put the winger in the eighth and Crowe picked up his second stop with a ninth 1-2-3. Additional bonus: None of the four released more than 20 releases, which could make them available on Wednesday night.
• A strong throw from rookie right fielder Jack Suwinski, who nailed the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman trying to pull off a single in a double to lead the seventh inning of a one-game play. “That was the game of the game,” coach Derek Shelton said. “It has to be perfect. It has to be online.”
• Three singles from receiver Tyler Heineman, who was 1 of 17 entering the game. The third was preceded by Marcano’s sacrificial touch and a two-out drive double by Bryan Reynolds for great assurance in the ninth inning. It was a welcome clutch blow for Reynolds, who was 2 in his previous 32 baptisms with runners in goal position.
All in all it was the Pirates’ second straight win (21-27) against the Dodgers (33-16) in the last three weeks, with one more game to play.
“I really can’t give an exact reason why,” Chavis said when asked to explain the Pirates’ success against the Dodgers. “But I can say that it shows what we are capable of. Everyone is needed and it has been fun to be a part of it. Needless to say, it’s early in the season. We have a lot of balls to play. ”
Keller, who had been working out of the bullpen recently, made his first outing since May 13 and got his first win of the season as a starter. But he walked five batsmen and hit another in five innings. He only hit two hits, one from a two-run homer from Trea Turner, and put up five batters.
But it was good when it mattered most. He retired Mookie Betts, a former American League MVP and current home run NL leader (15), with a ground ball at third base with a runner-up at second to fourth.
In the fifth, Keller put Will Smith and Edwin Rios on the lookout for the last of his 98 pitches. Both times, Keller took out his new release, a set, to get all three.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about and working on,” Shelton said. “It was something we played with, Mitch talked, he and Oscar (pitching coach Marin) started talking, what we’ve been playing with in the bullpen. He made it known and it looked like a real field. efficient.
“The important thing is that his four-seam machine (fast ball) stayed from 94 to 97 (mph). His pen stayed from 94 to 97.”
Keller said he tried it once in Chicago on May 18, but hit Willson Contreras of the Cubs with the field of play.
He didn’t use it much until Tuesday when he threw it more than any other throw (35% of the time). But he also threw four seams, sliding, curving and shifting in an attempt to keep the Dodgers guessing.
“He will definitely not be back on track,” said Keller, who downgraded his ERA to 5.77. “Just keep rolling with this one and move on to the next one. Try to stay confident and let my stuff work in the area.
“I still don’t feel like my command (the set) is really good. Some of those shots I was trying to get into and they were a back door called strike 3s. It’s not where I want it to be yet, but I’m comfortable where I have more leeway with the playing field.
“If I leave it in the middle of the zone or in the zone, it has enough movement to keep the batters out of balance.”
The pitch kept the game close, but there was much more to the win, such as Marcano’s touchdown, Reynolds’ drive double and Suwinski’s throw that pleased Shelton.
The manager praised his young team for being “fundamentally solid” and also liked the way he responded in a very busy environment in front of a large crowd.
“You’re probably playing in an atmosphere as good as you’ll be playing all year,” he said. “So that our young children can do that and act, it’s important for our growth as we continue to develop.”
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter.