Pirates Defeat Reds 1-0 Despite Getting No-Hit

The Pirates and Reds met for the final game of a four-game set on a sunny Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. Jose Quintana and Hunter Greene went head-to-head in a pitcher’s duel. In the game, the Bucs didn’t record a hit, but still defeated Cincinnati 1-0 to split the four-game series.

As spectacular as Quintana was, Greene was even more impressive. Not only did he hold the Pirates scoreless through seven innings, but he didn’t allow a hit through seven, and started the eight inning even though he was well over 100 pitches. After recording the first out of the eighth, Greene issued back-to-back walks to Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez, ending the rookie’s start after throwing 118 pitches.

The Reds went to Art Warren who issued a four-pitch walk to Ben Gamel. Ke’Bryan Hayes then bounced into a fielder’s choice, allowing Castro to score and giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead without recording a base hit. In the game, the Bucs were hitless in 24 at-bats.

Greene’s final line read 7.1 innings, no hits, one earned run, five walks and nine strikeouts. Despite not allowing a hit, Greene was charged with the loss.

David Bednar closed the game out in the ninth, picking up his seventh save.

Quintana continued his impressive start to the season with another masterful outing for the Bucs. He worked seven scoreless innings, becoming the first Pirates pitcher this season to go more than six. He allowed only four baserunners, three singles and a walk, and struck out five batters. His season ERA now sits at an impressive 2.19.

Derek Shelton was ejected after the seventh inning after Josh VanMeter and home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez were discussing a called strike three.

The Pirates begin a trip to Wrigley Field for a three-game series with the Cubs starting on Monday. The Pirates starter is TBA and the Cubs will have Wade Miley (0-0, 9.00 ERA) on the mound.

Takeaways

• Opposite Day: Talk about two totally different pitchers starting this game. The veteran Quintana reached 10 years of service time in the big leagues on Sunday. The left-hander doesn’t throw hard, averaging low-90s on his fastball, but has been effective all year for the Bucs and that continued in this one. Greene, on the other hand, is a hard-throwing rookie right-hander that often hits triple digits on the radar gun. Though there is quite a contrast between the two, both pitchers were very effective and posted impressive pitching lines.
• Jose’s Last Four: Quintana has worked at least five innings in each of his last four outings. Over that span, the southpaw has allowed just three earned runs in 23 innings (1.17 ERA) on 13 hits, four walks and he has recorded 22 strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 13 innings after pitching six scoreless against the Dodgers earlier in the week and seven more scoreless against the Reds on Sunday.
• No-Hit Win!: We just need to take a minute to appreciate the extremely unique circumstances of winning a baseball game without recording a hit. It was the first time since 2008 that a Major League Baseball team won a game without a base hit and only the sixth time it happened in the Modern Era. There’s obviously some mixed feelings in the clubhouse after a game like that, but the win is all that matters. We might never see that again in our lifetime.