Quintana Deals, Bats Come Alive in 5-1 Win Over Dodgers

Well ladies and gentlemen, a Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher finally picked up a victory in 2022.

After an embarrassing weekend in Cincinnati, the Pirates returned home for a seven-game home stand and the team awaiting them just so happened to be the best team by record in baseball in the form of the Los Angeles Dodgers. If you watched the game Monday night, you wouldn’t have been able to tell.

Jose Quintana has been solid for the Pirates so far this season after being acquired via free agency this offseason. He entered his sixth start of the season with a 3.38 ERA, 20 Ks and a 1.25 WHIP over 24.0 IP and all of those stats are sure to improve after his outing Monday night that saw him go six scoreless innings with 5 Ks and only two hits allowed.

The only run support Quintana received came in the fourth inning when Yoshi Tsutsugo scored Michael Chavis on a sacrifice fly but after that the bats started scorching against Dodgers start Julio Urias, who allowed 11 hits over 6 IP.

The trio of Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Chavis combined to hit 7-12 on the game while Jack Suwinski would add much needed insurance on his first MLB home run in the eighth inning to lead all Pirates with 2 RBIs.

Michael Perez also went deep for the second consecutive game and the only Pirates with an at-bat to not get into the hit column were Cole Tucker and Jake Marisnick, who would leave the game with a thumb injury after a diving catch in center field.

Anthony Banda, Wil Crowe and David Bednar also impressed in relief, combining for 1 ER, 2 Hs, 2 Ks and only 1 BB in three innings. Bednar allowed his second HR of the season in the ninth but settled in immediately after with a four-run cushion.

After a tough weekend series against the Reds, this felt much needed for Pittsburgh. The Dodgers clearly outclass the Pirates on paper, but the Pirates outplayed the Dodgers in almost every facet on Monday night and improved to 9-1 in games where they score five or more runs.

The win moves Pittsburgh to 12-16 on the season.

Bryse Wilson is slated to start against Tony Gonsolin with the Pirates trying to secure a series win and the Dodgers looking for the split. Tomorrow’s game time is 6:35pm ET.