Strong Night at the Plate Backs Quintana’s Stellar Outing; Pirates Defeat Dodgers 5-1

It finally happened. Jose Quintana became the first starting pitcher for the Pirates to earn a victory this season. Quintana and three relievers combined to limit the Dodgers to just one run in the Bucs 5-1 win at PNC Park on Monday night.

Quintana did what he has done all year so far for the Pirates. It may have not been flashy, but the southpaw got results, and limited a potent Dodgers offense two just two hits. More importantly, Quintana held Los Angeles scoreless through his five innings of work. He walked four and struck out five, and 56 of his 102 pitches went for strikes. For Quintana, it was his first win since 2019.

The left-hander escaped a two-out jam in the fifth by getting Justin Turner to bounce into a fielder’s choice with runners on first and second and retired the side in order in the sixth. Quintana’s season ERA now sits at an impressive 2.70 mark.

The Pirates finally broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Michael Chavis led off the frame with a hustle triple, and Yoshi Tsutsugo drove him in with a sacrifice fly, putting the Pirates ahead 1-0.

Wil Crowe entered the game in relief of Anthony Banda in the seventh with two on and two out. He got Trea Turner to pop out on the first pitch he threw.

In the home half of the inning, Michael Perez connected on a solo shot to center field, his second blast in as many games since being brought back up from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Michael Perez hits bombs. pic.twitter.com/PWneOW5VQY

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 10, 2022

Later in the inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled for his third hit of the night, swiped second and advanced to third on a throwing error from catcher Austin Barnes. Chavis brought Hayes home with a sacrifice fly to center, putting the Pirates up 3-0.

The Pirates added even more insurance in the eighth. Ben Gamel stayed red-hot, and doubled for his second hit of the game. Jack Suwinski followed with his first career homer to put the Pirates up five.

JACK SUWINSKI HIT HIS FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HOME RUN 425 FT!!!! pic.twitter.com/2EqrBsXUnK

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 10, 2022

The Pirates outhit the Dodgers 15 to 4, and seven of the 15 hits for Pittsburgh went for extra-bases. The Dodgers lone run came from an Edwin Rios pinch hit homer in the ninth.

Jake Marisnick made another fantastic diving catch in center. He appeared to have jammed his thumb and later exited the game in the sixth inning.

The second game of the three-game set gets underway on Tuesday at 6:35. Bryse Wilson (0-1, 3.79 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Pirates and will face Tony Gonsolin (2-0, 1.64 ERA).

Takeaways 

• Dodger Dominance: Quintana continued his success against the Dodgers that he has had throughout his career. Entering play, the left-hander had a career 2.09 ERA in nine career games (six starts) spanning 38.2 innings of work. He limited the Dodgers to a .217 batting average and .623 OPS before allowing just two hits in his six innings against Los Angeles on Monday. 
• Heating Up: After picking up a pair of hits in this one, Bryan Reynolds has now recorded at least one hit in seven of his last eight games and nine of his last 11. In his last eight games, Reynolds has a .345 batting average and an OPS well over 1.000 with two doubles, two homers and only four strikeouts. Reynolds, who served as a designated hitter for the second time this season, is breaking out of his early slump and is looking more like the player he was a season ago. 
• Hit Julio Around: Entering play, opponents were hitting just .165 against Dodgers lefty Julio Urias. The Pirates collected 10 hits off of him, going 11 for 26 (.423) with a double, a triple and a homer. Four different Pirates — Reynolds, Chavis, Hayes and Diego Castillo, each had two-hits. Disappointingly for the Pirates, they weren’t able to capitalize much on the hits, scoring just one run against Urias.