Mitch Keller's short start and late grand slam doom Pirates against Braves

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jul 9, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — Mitch Keller’s woes continued Thursday. The Pirates’ offense and bullpen nearly let him get away with it — until a blast too far in the ninth.

Keller completed just three innings, while three Pirates home runs weren’t quite enough in a 10-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park. The tying run reached third in the eighth, but Dennis Santana allowed a grand slam to Mike Yastrzemski in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

The Pirates are 47-47 and will need a series victory against the Milwaukee Brewers (58-34) to go into the All-Star break above .500.

Keller allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out three. His biggest issue was the lack of a put-away pitch, as the Braves continually fouled balls off. He threw 72 pitches, including a 35-pitch third inning (that did not include a walk).

It was Keller’s shortest start since July 28 of last year, when he needed 73 pitches in two innings against the San Francisco Giants.

The Pirates trailed 3-0 after Keller’s third inning but got two back in the bottom half on back-to-back home runs from Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez.

But the Braves jumped on Cam Sanders. Sanders threw 39 pitches in the fourth inning, recording just two outs, walking three and allowing a two-run home run to Jim Jarvis and an RBI single to Drake Baldwin. The homer was the first of Jarvis’ career.

After Sanders, then a 38-minute rain delay, the Pirates’ bullpen kept the team in it until the ninth. Hunter Stratton stranded two of Sanders’ runners, then pitched a scoreless fifth before the delay. Yohan Ramirez pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one walk, then Gregory Soto pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

And the Pirates chipped away. Jake Mangum hit a two-run homer against Bryce Elder to the upper rows above the Clemente Wall, scoring Jared Triolo from first. Mangum added an RBI double in the sixth, finishing the game 4 for 5 with three RBIs and a triple away from the cycle.

The Pirates just couldn’t get that final run — and Santana couldn’t keep them close enough for a chance.

It was over when ...

... Yastrzemski’s blast hit the seats. Santana loaded the bases on a walk, a single and an intentional walk. He struck out Austin Riley to give himself a chance but fell behind on Yastrzemski before leaving a four-seamer over the heart of the plate.

Santana’s ERA this season is now 5.95. He simply hasn’t been the same pitcher as he was in 2024 and 2025.

On the mound

On Wednesday, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington noted how Keller has struggled against left-handers this year. The Braves, knowing that, lined up six lefties and a switch hitter to face him.

The Braves fouled off 17 of his 46 strikes. They swung and missed at just five.

At the plate

The Pirates scored five runs on eight hits yet went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Bucs bites

— The Pirates entered Thursday with 117 home runs, as many as they hit in all of 2025. They passed that mark on July 9.

Up next

The NL Central-leading Brewers come to town for the final three games before the All-Star break, starting Friday at 6:40 p.m. All-Star right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (9-3, 3.24 ERA) will pitch for the Pirates against Brewers right-hander Brandon Sproat (3-4, 5.13).