Keller pitches 8 innings for 10th win to lead Pirates over Mets 8-2, split of 4-game series

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller pitched eight innings for his 10th win of the season and Joshua Palacios’ home run capped a five-run sixth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Mets 8-2 on Monday.

Keller (10-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in a 107-pitch outing while striking out six and walking none. He is the first Pirates pitcher to have double-digit victories before the All-Star break since Gerrit Cole in 2015 and Pittsburgh earned a split of the four-game series.

The performance came a day after Keller did not get selected to the All-Star Game. That decision rankled Pirates manager Derek Shelton.

“That was an All-Star performance,” Shelton said. “He’s 10 wins before the break with another start to go. He made one bad pitch in eight innings and it was hot and he had to sit through two long innings. If that’s not an All-Star, I’m hard-pressed to see what is.”

It was the 49th consecutive start that Keller pitched at least five innings, the longest current run in the major leagues.

“I thought we had a really good game plan going in, (catcher) Joey (Bart) and I,” Keller said. “Just tried to attack the zone and fill it up as much as possible, be on the aggression. Good things will happen if you do that.”

Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz and New York’s Brandon Nimmo each hit two-run home runs.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza lifted rookie starter Christian Scott after 77 pitches with two outs and no runners on base in the bottom of the sixth inning with the score 2-2.

Pitching on four days' rest for the first time in the major leagues, Scott was on a limit of 75 pitches.

Eric Orze relieved, making his major-league debut, and failed to retire any of the three batters he faced. Orze (0-1) walked Bryan Reynolds then Cruz singled and Rowdy Tellez hit an RBI single to put the Pirates ahead 3-2.

Nick Gonzales greeted Adrian Houser with a run-scoring double. The Pirates added two more runs on a fielding error by right fielder Jeff McNeil and a wild pitch before Palacios homered to make it 7-2.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Orze said. “Obviously didn’t go the way I wanted but I felt confident, and I felt good.”

It was Palacios’ first home run of the season after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis last week. He drove in another run with a grounder in the eighth.

“Watching that at-bat by Cruz, watching the at-bat by Rowdy and watching Nick get that through, that got me excited,” Palacios said. “I was ready to go. And then I got something good to hit and I was able to unleash on it.”

Cruz’s homer was a 431-foot shot to the bullpens in center field in the fourth inning off Scott and opened the scoring. That was the only hit allowed by Scott.

The Mets tied it at 2-all on Nimmo’s blast in the sixth off Keller. It was the first time Nimmo put a 3-0 pitch in play during his nine seasons in the majors, spanning 3,421 plate appearances.

Scott was outstanding but is still seeking his first win after six career starts. He had three strikeouts and one walk.

Nimmo, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos had two hits for the Mets. The Pirates got two hits from both Cruz and Gonzales.

New York went 4-4 on its eight-game road trip and fell back below .500 at 44-45. The Pirates finished 3-4 on their homestand.

“Definitely some games that got away from us, but honestly that’s the story of the year so far,” Nimmo said. “We haven’t been able to lock down wins. And that’s a problem. We’re hoping to address it.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Right fielder Starling Marte (bone bruise in right knee) is scheduled for a checkup later this week and could be cleared to begin baseball activities. … Sean Reid-Foley (right shoulder impingement) threw from 90 feet on Monday.

Pirates: Cruz was removed for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning because of hamstring tightness.

UP NEXT

Mets: Begin a three-game series on Tuesday night against the visiting Washington Nationals with left-hander Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.22) facing right-hander Jake Irvin (7-6, 2.80).

Pirates: Have not decided on a starter for Tuesday night’s game against the Brewers in Milwaukee that opens a three-game series. Right-hander Colin Rea (8-2, 3.34) will pitch for the Brewers.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo (9) is greeted by third base coach Mike Sarbaugh as he rounds third base after hitting a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo (9) celebrates with Harrison Bader (44) after both scored on Nimmo's two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run off New York Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run off New York Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott , bottom, during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz hits a two-run home run off New York Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Rowdy Tellez, center, celebrates after driving in a run with a single off New York Mets relief pitcher Eric Orze during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

An Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in central Gaza and Palestinian officials said at least 19 people were killed early Sunday. Israeli planes also lit up the skyline across the southern suburbs of Beirut, striking what the military said were Hezbollah targets.

The strike in Gaza hit a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Another four people were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town.

The Israeli military said both strikes targeted militants, without providing evidence.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead from the strike on the mosque were all men, while another man was wounded.

In Beirut, the strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport and another formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Here is the latest:

BEIRUT — The southern suburbs of Beirut were hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, the heaviest bombardment since Sept. 23, when Israel began a significant escalation in its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Sunday.

The targets included a gas station on the main highway leading to the Beirut airport and a warehouse for medical supplies, the agency said.

Some of the overnight strikes set off a long series of explosions, suggesting that ammunition stores may have been hit.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron called for “a halt to arms exports for use in Gaza,” saying it's urgent to avoid escalating tensions in the region, his office said.

Macron drew strong criticism from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by saying "the priority is … that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza.” He made the comments in an interview with France Inter radio, which was recorded on Tuesday and aired Saturday.

France doesn’t deliver any weapons to Israel, Macron said.

Netanyahu released a video statement in which he called out the French president by name and referred to such calls as a “disgrace.”

In a statement, Macron’s office said “France is Israel’s unfailing friend. Mr. Netanyahu’s words are excessive and irrelevant to the friendship between France and Israel.”

“We must return to diplomatic solutions,” it added.

The statement also said that Macron had demonstrated his commitment to Israel's security when France mobilized its military resources in response to the Iranian attack. French authorities did not provided details about France’s role.

Macron has called for an immediate cease-fire in both Gaza and Lebanon.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An apparent Israeli airstrike early Sunday killed at least 18 people in central Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

The strike hit a mosque sheltering displaced people near the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, the hospital said in a statement.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead were all men. Another two men were critically wounded, the hospital said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment about the strike on the mosque.

The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is now nearing 42,000 according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but many of the dead were women and children.

BEIRUT — Powerful new explosions rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, also striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.

The strong explosions began near midnight after Israel’s military urged residents to evacuate areas in Beirut’s Haret Hreik and Choueifat neighborhoods. AP video showed the blasts illuminating the densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

Israel’s military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

A man checks the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Emergency workers inspect a building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli soldiers pray at a staging area in northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An Israeli soldier prays at a staging area in northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from a destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Mourners gather around the bodies of Palestinian men who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)