Mitch Keller, Seth Lugo go toe to toe for struggling Pirates, Royals

With their respective teams sitting below .500, Kansas City's Seth Lugo and Pittsburgh's Mitch Keller appear to be enticing options for a postseason contender as the trade deadline looms.

In the meantime, each hurler looks to continue his own run of success when Lugo and the Royals try to hand Keller's Pirates a fifth straight defeat Tuesday night.

With Monday's 9-3 victory in the series opener, Kansas City won for just the fifth time in its last 24 home games. The Pirates, last in the NL Central, snapped a 30-inning scoreless streak with Tommy Pham's two-run, third-inning homer Monday, but they're 0-4 to start a nine-game road stretch.

However, these clubs sport two potentially desirable trade pieces for the deadline at the end of July.

Lugo (6-5, 2.65 ERA) is a remarkable 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last six starts. He yielded one run on six hits and struck out seven over 6 1/3 inning of Kansas City's 3-2 win at Seattle on Thursday.

"His pitching was phenomenal," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. "He really game-plans well. He doesn't overuse certain pitches, so when he does want them, they are effective."

The veteran right-hander has made just two career starts versus Pittsburgh, the most recent coming in 2023. He is 0-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 12 games against the Pirates all-time.

Pham, batting .421 with three homers and 15 RBIs in his last 11 contests, is 7-for-15 with two doubles against Lugo.

Pham's homer Monday was one of just four hits for the Pirates, who were shut out during an entire three-game series at Seattle over the weekend. Pittsburgh has totaled 28 hits while being outscored 30-8 during its six-game road losing skid.

"As you go through, these times get frustrating," interim Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "We need to find a way to pick things up."

Pittsburgh starter Andrew Heaney allowed four runs and six hits in just three innings Monday. However, the Royals, who pounded out 12 hits, including four home runs, are likely to face a stiffer test against Keller (3-10, 3.64 ERA).

The right-hander has a 2.40 ERA while going 2-2 over his last five starts. Keller gave up five hits, a walk and hit a batter, but fanned seven over seven innings of Wednesday's 5-0 victory against St. Louis.

"You got to lock it and figure out a way," Keller said. "It's going out there every time and giving the team a chance to win. You can only do so much out there on the mound. Just keeping us in the game is my main goal."

Keller, however, has allowed eight runs, seven hits and six walks over 8 1/3 innings while losing both career starts versus Kansas City. The Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. homered for his only hit in two at-bats against Keller.

Witt clubbed a two-run homer Monday. He is batting .413 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in the last 11 games for Kansas City, which has won five of seven following its 5-14 rut.

Teammate Jonathan India is 8-for-18 with a home run and two doubles versus Keller.

--Field Level Media