Blue Jays batter Keller to roll past Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller hit Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer with his second pitch of Tuesday’s game at PNC Park, and everything went downhill from there.

Keller worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, five earned runs and three walks while the offense tallied eight hits but failed to capitalize in crucial moments in a 7-3 loss, their 74th of the season and 30th at home.

The Blue Jays capitalized on Keller’s mistakes early as he walked the second and third batters he faced. Catcher Alejandro Kirk followed with a single over Bryan Reynolds’ head in right field to drive home Springer before left fielder Nathan Lukes drove in Addison Barger and Bo Bichette to take an early 3-0 lead.

Toronto extended its lead to five in the second inning when Springer jumped on a 1-2 sweeper and hit it over the center-field wall for a tworun homer, his 20th of the season.

Keller allowed back-to-back singles in the fourth but was replaced by Yohan Ramirez after striking out Barger with his 85th pitch. He utilized six pitches on the night but drew eight whiffs on 36 swings for a 22 percent whiff rate. He only threw his changeup four times and leaned heavily on his slider (22 pitches) and four-seam fastball (21).

With a career ERA of 5.99 in August, Keller has seen his second half struggles continue this season. In four starts this month, his season ERA has climbed from 3.89 to 4.34 as he’s allowed five or more earned runs and seven or more hits in three of those starts. His August ERA this season sits at 7.98.

The Pirates couldn’t cut into Toronto’s lead on two occasions as starter Max Scherzer staved off major damage. He threw six innings, allowing four hits and three walks and giving up one earned run.

The Pirates loaded the bases in the second inning and pushed across a run on an RBI groundout by Isiah Kiner-Falefa but failed to do any further damage as Ronny Simon popped out to end the threat.

Scherzer stranded runners on first and second in the sixth with a little help from his defense as center fielder Myles Straw robbed Andrew McCutchen of a base hit with a diving catch. Scherzer proceeded to strike out Jack Suwinski with a slider at the bottom of the zone to end his night.

Simon and Suwinski drove in runs in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. However, the Pirates finished 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base.

Ramirez pitched three innings of hitless relief while striking out three, but Colin Holderman gave up a two-run homer to Kirk in the seventh inning. Since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Aug. 15, Holderman has two appearances and has given up three earned runs over 1 2/3 innings.