Late-game bullpen struggles sink Pirates, who settle for series split with Milwaukee

The Pittsburgh Pirates let an opportunity to take three of four games from the Milwaukee Brewers slip through their fingers Thursday, falling 7-5 at PNC Park because of a late-game bullpen meltdown and a shaky start by Mitch Keller.

Aroldis Chapman (0-2, 6.75 ERA) was charged with the loss and a blown save, allowing a two-run, go-ahead homer to Gary Sanchez that erased a 5-4 Pirates lead in the bottom of the eighth.

Chapman looked to be on the verge of recovering from allowing an infield single to Blake Perkins, not to mention sailing a wild pitch past catcher Joey Bart, but Sanchez blasted an 0-2 sinker clocked at 101.9 mph opposite field over the Clemente Wall.

“I think he just took a really good at-bat and just made a really good connection with the ball there,” Chapman said postgame through translator Stephen Morales. “It happens, you know. He had a really good at-bat.”

After the game, manager Derek Shelton pointed out that all of the pitches to Sanchez, a New York Yankees teammate of Chapman’s for six seasons, were fastballs, leading to predictability when Sanchez managed to connect on the triple-digit sinker for his homer.

“Agree. I think I threw too many fastballs there,” Chapman said. “I should throw some breaking stuff. Next time, I’ll try to mix it up a little bit, but it happened. We’ll learn from that.”

Roansy Contreras took over on the mound in the ninth and allowed another run, putting Milwaukee up 7-5.

The Pirates (13-13) went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Keller (2-2, 5.14 ERA) took a no-decision Thursday, pitching five innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits.

He struck out seven, walked two and threw a season-high 104 pitches.

“Not very good,” Keller said of his start. “Just not in a good groove, didn’t execute well, threw way too many pitches.”

Keller allowed the game’s first run in the first inning when William Contreras hit a solo shot to left-center field on the seventh pitch of the afternoon.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the first, the Pirates quickly got back in front thanks to Bart’s three-run homer off Brewers starter Freddy Peralta that plated Bryan Reynolds, who singled, and Rowdy Tellez, who drew a walk.

Bart, through 23 at-bats since the Pirates acquired him in a trade from San Francisco in early April, is hitting .304 and is tied for the club lead in homers (three).

Keller was unable to hold the lead. In the third, he issued back-to-back no-out walks to Sal Frelick and Contreras. Jake Bauers and Rhys Hoskins plated both with RBI singles, tying the score 3-3.

“He really struggled with his delivery today,” Shelton said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen him miss on both sides of the plate as much as he did. The third (inning) is where it was really inconsistent.

“ … It was just overall a lack of command. He just looked like he couldn’t get in sync.”

Keller caught a tough break in the fifth after Contreras got on board yet again, this time with a single.

Hoskins roped a ball into left field that Jack Suwinski made a diving attempt at, but the ball bounced out of his glove when he crashed down onto the grass. The hit became an RBI double and allowed Contreras to score.

However, in the bottom of the fifth, Suwinski redeemed himself with a two-out RBI double that scored Bart, who walked, tying the score 4-4.

Jared Triolo then came to bat and scored Suwinski with an RBI single.

That led to Peralta’s day ending after 4 2/3 innings and five runs allowed on as many hits.

Peralta walked and struck out five, taking a no-decision like Keller.

After Keller’s departure, Ryder Ryan and Colin Holderman pitched a combined scoreless 2 2/3 innings before Chapman took over in the eighth.

Reynolds was the only Pirate with multiple hits Thursday, going 2 for 5 with a run scored.

Andrew McCutchen was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a walk, and Oneil Cruz had a double and two walks.

The club has not won a series since April 5-7 against the Baltimore Orioles.

“Splitting the series is still good, but we’re just leaving wins out there (and that’s) just not good,” Keller said. “Everybody in this room is at fault for it. Just gotta be better.”