PITTSBURGH — The streak the Pirates had going was equal parts emblematic of their new pitching philosophy and the byproduct of playing sub-.500 baseball. It was also just pretty darn strange. Nearly 30 games, and a starting pitcher didn’t have a single win? Yeah, never happened before.
Last time it came close: the 1988 Orioles, who lost their first 21 games.
But thanks to a throwback pitching performance from Jose Quintana — 100-plus pitches over six innings, gasp — a Pirates starter finally earned a win, as Pittsburgh knocked off the big, bad Dodgers, 5-1, at PNC Park on Monday night.
Quintana was a little erratic but was otherwise extremely good. It was quite possibly his best start as a Pirate, as the left-hander went six innings, allowed just two hits, walked four, hit one and struck out five. Quintana threw 102 pitches and 56 for strikes, a season-high workload for a Pirates pitcher this season.
The veteran has talked multiple times about wanting to nail down that first win for his new club, and he finally got a chance to do it against a streaking Los Angeles club that had won six in a row and seven of 10.
The Dodgers had also dominated Quintana’s new employer in recent years. The Pirates had lost 16 in a row to the Dodgers dating back to June 6, 2018. It was the second-longest losing streak for the Pirates against one team — and now it’s over.
The other key trend to pick out of Monday game was improved starting pitching. A day after Zach Thompson — who was sick, hooked up to an IV postgame and nearly passed out — went five scoreless against Cincinnati, Quintana one-upped his rotation mate.
Pirates starters had a 6.17 ERA in April that was 28th among 30 teams. That number sits at just 2.60 in May, which places that group firmly in the top 10.
Offensively, Jack Suwinski hit the first home run of his MLB career, Michael Perez went deep for a second consecutive game, and a slew of others enjoyed productive nights against Dodgers pitching.
Ke’Bryan Hayes’ three-hit effort upped his season average to .337. Bryan Reynolds, Michael Chavis, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Diego Castillo and Ben Gamel all had multiple hits.
The outburst was a little surprising considering the Pirates were facing Dodgers starter Julio Urias, who had a 2.96 ERA in 32 starts a season ago and came into this one with a 1.88 ERA so far this season.
After putting men on in each of the first three innings, the Pirates grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks in large part to Chavis’ leadoff triple, the infielder getting aggressive on a first-pitch changeup and lining one into the right place in center field.
Chavis scored on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Tsutsugo.
Perez led off the seventh inning with a homer to center off Urias, crushing a pitch that was left middle-middle. Then Suwinski obliterated a hanging slider from former Pirate Robbie Erlin, driving it 425 feet to center field.
As much as the Pirates hit on Monday, this victory was also about some strong defensive plays in the early innings.
Gamel made the first one, tracking a ball from his left to right while also contending with some early-game sun. The Pirates left fielder finished the grab with a fearless leap onto the warning track.
It wasn’t the first time Gamel has made a catch like that, and it wasn’t the first time Marisnick covered an incredible amount of ground to rob someone in the gap, which is what he did to take an extra-base hit away from third baseman Hanser Alberto in the fourth.
Moving in the same direction, Marisnick went full extension and laid out to make the grab. It looked like Marisnick may have hurt his hand or wrist on the play, though he didn’t leave the game until Tucker pinch hit for him in the sixth. (Nothing has been announced to this point.)
As for the stellar defense, this has been a developing theme for Shelton and his staff this season, the Pirates featuring what has become one of the best defensive outfields in baseball. Whether it’s been Reynolds — a Gold Glove finalist in 2021 — Gamel, Marisnick or even Suwinski, Pittsburgh has shown a real ability to catch the ball out there.
Marisnick ranks third among all MLB defenders in Outs Above Average (5), according to Baseball Savant. Meanwhile, both Marisnick and Suwinski have been worth 3 Defensive Runs Saved, per FanGraphs. Only two National League outfielders have been worth more.
