Mitch Keller will be the first to say that he’s had far more dominant outings than his start Monday evening. But as far as results are concerned, it was one of his most effective.

With their ace leading the charge, the Pirates continued their winning ways against a new opponent, besting the Angels by a final score of 4-1 at PNC Park. The victory marked their third straight.

Matched up against a subpar Angels lineup, Keller wasted no time taking the fight to the opposition. The 28-year-old righty needed just 79 pitches to get through his first seven frames, using a heavy dose of fastballs to keep Ron Washington’s club in check.

A big swing from ninth-hitter Zach Neto marked Keller’s only notable blunder on the night, as the right-handed hitting shortstop sent a 1-0 cutter on the outer half of the plate into the shrubbery located atop the center field wall in the top of the sixth. But even that miscue was not enough to shake him from his grove, recovering to pitch a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth.

Keller pitched the majority of his outing with a comfortable lead thanks to another big inning from his lineup. For the second time in as many games, the Pirates tallied four runs in one frame, this time coming from one swing of the bat.

Edward Olivares was the culprit, hitting a first-pitch grand slam off former Pirate Tyler Anderson to put his team ahead 4-0 in the bottom of the third inning. The big fly was his second extra-base hit of the evening, with his first being a double in the inning prior.

With 94 pitches to his credit, Keller took the hill hoping to finish the job. Facing the 2-3-4 part of the Angels’ order, he didn’t back down, getting a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to conclude his third victory of the season.

On the mound

Keller’s complete game effort was just the second of his career, with the first occurring on May 8 last season against the Colorado Rockies. Keller needed 103 pitches to finish the job in that contest, six less than than his effort Monday night.

At the plate

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