LOS ANGELES — As the oldest player on the Pirates’ active roster and the only one other than Roberto Perez who was born in the 1980s, Quintana was 11 years old the last time the Pirates swept a series at Dodger Stadium.
Over more than two decades, Pittsburghers witnessed the opening of PNC Park, Heinz Field and PPG Paints Arena ... but they never saw the Pirates sweep the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
That changed on a gorgeous Wednesday evening in Southern California, as Quintana and his plucky Pirates cruised past the Dodgers, 8-2, to complete the unlikeliest of series sweeps before setting off for what had to be a raucous flight home.
Not only did the Pirates take five of six from the big, bad Dodgers this season, but they swept a series for the first time since Aug. 27, 2020 in St. Louis after going 0-16 in chances to do it last season.
It’s the first three-game series sweep for the Pirates since Aug. 21-23, 2020 against the Brewers. This also marks the first time this season the Pirates have won three consecutive games and the first time they’ve won three in a row on the road since 2019.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, had not been swept at Dodger Stadium by anyone since Aug. 20-22, 2018, when the Cardinals beat them three consecutive times.
It’s the Pirates’ first sweep of the Dodgers anywhere since Aug. 7-9, 2015 and their first at Dodger Stadium since Sept. 4-6, 2000.
Although Quintana — the National League ERA leader in May at 1.33 — pitched well, there were bigger factors that helped the Pirates to this win.
One game ball should probably go to Bryan Reynolds, who hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and made a terrific throw to preserve the Pirates lead in the seventh.
The Dodgers had runners on second and third with one out against Dillon Peters, who got first baseman Freddie Freeman to bounce out to second base — against a drawn-in infield — before manager Derek Shelton gave the ball to Chris Stratton.
Facing shortstop Trea Turner, Stratton induced a fly ball to Reynolds, who delivered a one-hop strike to Tyler Heineman for an inning-ending double play.
The Pirates also got four RBIs off the bench from Rodolfo Castro, including a homer in the eighth that opened things up.
Across six games against the Dodgers this season, the Pirates hit .272 (56 for 206) with 30 runs scored, nine doubles, three triples and 11 home runs.
Tied at 1 through the first four innings, the Pirates jumped in front thanks to a two-run homer from Reynolds, his eighth of the season, second of the series and third of the road trip.
After Dodgers starter Mitch White got called strikes with a pair of fastballs, Reynolds got a hanging curveball and blasted it 409 feet over the right-field fence.
Reynolds scuffled plenty at the start of this season, but the home run he hit Wednesday was the latest bit of evidence that those days are in the past. He could be staring at a pretty big breakout here soon.
The first of the season from Castro came on a 3-1 pitch that came on an inside fastball from Dodgers left-handed reliever Alex Vesia.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth after Reynolds’ homer, Los Angeles cut its deficit to one on a borderline play the Pirates probably should have made.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Freeman hit a ground ball to Michael Chavis at first. Chavis stepped on the bag — a smart play because it was right there — then rifled a throw home. It was a little off-line and bounced, however, which made it tough for Heineman to handle. That allowed left fielder Kevin Pillar to slide in safely.
The Pirates grabbed an early lead for the third time this series, though this time they didn’t use a home run to do it. Ke’Bryan Hayes smacked a leadoff single, Reynolds drew a walk, and Josh VanMeter turned on a 93-mph fastball.
It was another solid at-bat from VanMeter, who’s had plenty of those lately. Despite plenty of scrutiny over how much he’s in Sheltons’s lineup, VanMeter began Wednesday’s game hitting .333 (9 for 27) with a triple, home run, four RBIs and a .419 on-base percentage over his last nine games.
The lead lasted until the fourth inning, when the Dodgers strung together three consecutive hits to start. Turner’s double extended his hit streak to 24 games, designated hitter Justin Turner dropped one inside the baseline, and outfielder Chris Taylor drilled a Quintana changeup on the outer-half back up the middle for a base hit.
Terrific work by Quintana limiting the damage, though, as he got third baseman Hanser Alberto to bounce into a double play before catcher Austin Barnes lined out to left.
While Wednesday’s series finale features Reynolds’ home run, some opportunistic offense and solid pitching, it also had a couple terrific fielding plays, especially on the Pirates end.
Diego Castillo negated a leadoff double for Pillar in the third when he alertly spun and threw to third. Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts showed yet another reason why he’s considered an MVP candidate when he ran down an opposite-field liner from Yu Chang.
Then in the sixth inning, with the Pirates again having to address a leadoff walk, they turned a double play when Hayes threw to first to get Alberto, then Chavis fired back across to nail Taylor, who was trying to advance two bases.
Quintana last 4 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out three.
