A short start from Mitch Keller put the Pirates in a hole they couldn’t dig out of in a 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at PNC Park. The Pirates have lost eight of their last 10 games.

Keller allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks in 3⅓ innings. The Pirates trailed 3-0 after five batters and 5-0 after two innings.

Keller hit leadoff man George Springer, then walked the next two batters, throwing two strikes in his first 12 pitches. Catcher Alejandro Kirk hit a liner off the right field wall — a baserunning blunder made it an RBI single, with Kirk tagged out as the second runner at second base — before left fielder Nathan Lukes added a two-RBI single.

Springer put Toronto up five with a two-run homer in the second.

The opposing pitcher, 41-year-old Max Scherzer, look

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