Pirates: 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 Pirates beat the Mets 8-2 on Monday in Pittsburgh. Keller (10-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in a 107-pitch outing while striking out six and walking none. He’s the first Pirates pitcher to have double-digit victories before the All-Star break since Gerrit Cole in 2015. The Pirates earned a split of the four-game series. The performance came a day after Keller didn’t 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.” The Pirates’ Oneil Cruz and Mets’ 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. The Mets went 4-4 on their eight-game road trip and fell back below .500 at 44-45. The Pirates finished 3-4 on their homestand. “... That’s the story of the year so far,” Nimmo said. “We haven’t been able to lock down wins.”

Also: Former OF Raúl Mondesi was sentenced Friday by a Dominican court to six years and nine months in jail and fined $507,000 for corruption during his time as mayor in the city of San Cristobal. Prosecutors accused the 53-year-old Mondesi of embezzling $5 million during his time as mayor between 2010 and 2016. The sentence came after a deal with the prosecutors’ office. Mondesi, whose son Adalberto Mondesi was a big league shortstop, spent six years under house arrest, which means his sentence has already been completed. With the Dodgers, Raúl Mondesi won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1994 and played in the All-Star Game one year later. The Dominican was in MLB for 13 seasons and won two Gold Gloves. Mondesi’s career also includes stints with the Blue Jays, Yankees, Diamondbecks, Pirates, Angels and Braves. He finished his career with an average of .273, 271 homers and 860 RBIs. Mondesi’s political career started in San Cristobal, which he represented as a lawmaker between 2006 and 2010. After his time as mayor, he bid for the senate but failed. Dominican prosecutors brought several charges against Mondesi, including falsification of documents, criminal association and malfeasance. Adalberto, his son, started his career with the Royals in the World Series they won in 2015. He’s currently a free agent after he suffered a knee injury in March 2023.