Mar 17, 2026 2 min read

BRADENTON, Fla – It was a rough outing for Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller.

Or, to be more precise, it was a rough two innings.

Brice Matthews and Zach Cole hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning, and the Houston Astros tacked on four more in the fifth en route to a 10-2 victory over Pittsburgh in a Grapefruit League spring training game Tuesday.

Keller gave up six runs on four hits and four walks in four-plus innings. He started the fifth inning but yielded a single and a walk before being replaced. The Pirates used two relievers to finish the inning, including Noah Murdock, who was charged with two runs on three hits while recording two outs.

The Astros scored the 10 runs on only eight hits. Six Pittsburgh pitchers combined to issue 10 walks.

The Pirates had six hits, including a double by Joey Bart, who also reached base twice on hit by pitches.

Bryan Reynolds drove in Bart with a single in the third inning. The other Pittsburgh run scored in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly.

The Pirates also made another round of roster cuts. They optioned left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk to Class AAA Indianapolis and reassigned four players to minor league camp: right-handed pitchers Beau Burrows, Michael Darrell-Hicks and Noah Davis, plus catcher Shawn Ross. Sisk was acquired last July from Kansas City in the trade that sent Bailey Falter to the Royals.

The Pirates have seven non-roster invitees left in camp. Only two are position players, shortstops Konnor Griffin and Alika Williams. Pittsburgh is down to 38 active players in camp.