Pirates score season-high 9 runs to pound Marlins, as Mitch Keller leaves with 'heat illness'

For the first two months of the season, the storyline for the Pittsburgh Pirates was an anemic offense that struggled to produce runs and ranked among baseball’s worst in several categories.

There was hope that the return of Ke’Bryan Hayes to the lineup would reverse that trend, providing a boost to the top of the batting order between leadoff man Adam Frazier and No. 3 hitter Bryan Reynolds.

The trio combined to drive in six runs as the Pirates pounded the Miami Marlins, 9-2, Friday night before a season-high 8,044 at PNC Park. Frazier went 2 for 3 and scored three runs, as Hayes went 2 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs and Reynolds 2 for 5 with a run-scoring double.

“Especially with them swinging the way they are now,” Frazier said. “That’s kind of my job, just get on base for them and if we can continue that, I think we’ve got a lot better chance of winning ballgames and the opportunity to put up a lot of runs. Yeah, that’s pretty good protection with those two hitting behind me.”

The Pirate got all nine runs from their top five hitters. Gregory Polanco had an RBI single in the third and, after his bases-clearing double led the Pirates to a 5-3 win on Thursday night, Jacob Stallings added a two-run single in the sixth. The nine runs were the most scored by the Pirates (22-34), who had eight three times this season.

“We had been lacking that,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s one of those things that you start to get them, you really start to see runs continue to mount up, and we’ve done a nice job. … We just continued to put them up.”

The high-scoring game offset Pirates starter Mitch Keller leaving the game after the second inning with what the club called “heat illness.” The game-time temperature was 79 degrees.

“He just got overheated and didn’t feel well and just didn’t feel like he can continue to go from where he was at,” Shelton said. “Just made the decision after looking at him in the second. He just didn’t look good, so we got him out.”

Shelton was forced to turn to his bullpen, and Duane Underwood Jr. (2-2), Chasen Shreve and Chris Stratton – who earned his second career save afte retiring the final 11 batters over 3 2/3 innings – combined to pitch seven scoreless innings.

“We didn’t really know what was going on or whatever,” Hayes said of Keller, “so we just had to pick him up and try to put together good at-bats, and the bullpen had to pick him up.”

The Marlins (24-32) also lost their starter, Cody Poteet, to a sprained MCL in his right knee after allowing three runs on two hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings.

Just like he did on Opening Day at Wrigley Field, Hayes hit a two-run home run in the first inning. After Frazier drew a leadoff walk, Hayes sent Poteet’s 2-2 sinker 413 feet over the center field fence for a two-run home run and 2-0 lead.

After finishing the first inning in 11 pitches, Keller struggled in the second. He struck out Adam Duvall, then walked Jazz Chisholm, Sandy Leon and Jon Berti to load the bases.

Keller gloved a dribbler by Poteet and relayed it to catcher Jacob Stallings for a forceout at home, but gave up a two-run double past the first base bag to Jose Devers that tied the game at 2-2. By the time he retired Marte on a groundout to second, Keller had thrown 47 pitches.

When it came Keller’s turn to bat in the bottom of the second, the Pirates first sent Cole Tucker to the on-deck circle then had pitcher Chase De Jong pinch hit. Keller allowed two runs on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts but it was his shortest start of a season in which he has lasted less than four innings four times and never more than five.

Poteet didn’t fare much better, as the Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the third when Gregory Polanco singled to center to score Frazier. Polanco was called out when attempting to steal second, but a one-minute, eight-second video review overturned the call.

Duane Underwood Jr., who relieved Keller, got out of a jam in the fourth when he got Jose Devers to ground into a forceout at the plate to prevent one run and Marte to ground out to the catcher.

Frazier added two RBI singles, one off Adam Cimber to score Kevin Newman to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead in the fourth and another off Zach Pop to score Erik Gonzalez and spark the five-run sixth.

The Pirates knocked Pop for six hits, as Hayes followed with a single to left to score Ben Gamel, Reynolds doubled off the Clemente Wall to score Frazier and Stallings drilled a grounder past third to score Hayes and Reynolds for a 9-2 lead. Shelton noted that Hayes’ return has come at the perfect time to take advantage of the hot bats of Frazier, who leads the majors in hits and the NL in doubles, and Reynolds, who has five homers in the past 14 games.

“When you get a guy that we penciled in to hit second back, it kind of changes and lengthens us out,” Shelton said, “and the first two nights of Key being back, I think we’ve seen that.”