Mitch Keller pitched his second career complete game and Edward Olivares hit his first career grand slam as the Pittsburgh Pirates opened a three-game series against the visiting Los Angeles Angels with a 4-1 victory on Monday.
Keller (3-3) allowed one run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts for Pittsburgh, which won its third straight after a five-game losing streak. Keller threw 109 pitches and retired the last nine batters he faced in order.
Zach Neto homered for Los Angeles, which has lost three straight games and nine of its past 11.
Angels starter Tyler Anderson (2-4) allowed four runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings against his former team. He walked three and struck out five.
Olivares doubled in his first at-bat in the second inning for his first extra-base hit since April 9. He then came to the plate with one out and the bases loaded in the third inning.
Olivares promptly turned on Anderson’s first pitch and deposited it into the left-field seats for his fourth homer this season.
Anderson settled in after Olivares’ homer and retired 10 straight batters before allowing Oneil Cruz’s two-out single in the sixth inning.
The Angels scored their lone run on Neto’s one-out homer in the sixth inning. The 408-foot blast was Neto’s third homer this season.
Pittsburgh put a runner in scoring position in the seventh inning after Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out, but he was caught attempting to steal third.
Keller struck out two of the final three batters in the ninth inning for his first complete game since May 8, 2023.
Bryan Reynolds had two hits for Pittsburgh, which has won three straight games for the first time since April 6-8.