José Quintana Pitches a Gem in Pittsburgh Pirates Shutout Victory

In game two of their three-game weekend series, the Pittsburgh Pirates shutout the Miami Marlins 1-0 as José Quintana pitched a gem on Saturday night

After kicking off their post-All-Star Break schedule by getting blown out by the Miami Marlins, the Pittsburgh Pirates shutout the Marlins 1-0 on Saturday night. With the win, the Pirates improved to 40-55 on the season.

José Quintana turns in one of his best starts of the season

In what very well may have been his final start with the Pittsburgh Pirates, or at least his penultimate start with the Bucs, veteran lefty José Quintana turned in one of his best as a Pirate. In 7 shutout innings, Quintana allowed just four hits, did not walk a batter, hit a batter and struck out four.

Quintana was in control from the start on Saturday, retiring the first seven batters he faced. After a runner reached on an error and he allowed a hit in the 3rd, Quintana then flipped a double play ball to clean the mess up.

He generated nine swings-and-misses and was a nice bounce back start after Quintana had allowed nine runs in 10.1 innings pitched across his last two starts. He now owns a 3.70 ERA and a 3.26 FIP on the season.

With free agency looming it is hard to envision Quintana not being traded by the August 2nd trade deadline. He is one of the best starting pitchers on the trade market and should net the Pirates a good trade return.

Bullpen slams the door

Wil Crowe took the ball for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 8th inning and made Marlin batters look uncomfortable. He hit Garrett Cooper with a pitch and allowed a bloop single, but he retired the other three batters he faced including a pair of strikeouts. This included a strikeout of Jesús Sánchez in which Crowe made Sánchez look silly with three straight changeups.

In the 9th inning it was David Bednar time. Bednar struck out the first batter he faced, before walking JJ Bleday in the Titusville native’s MLB debut. Bednar would slam the door otherwise, recording a pair of strikeouts in the 9th.

Bucs strike in the 6th

The lone run of the game was scored in the 6th inning. Ben Gamel and Cal Mitchell recorded back-to-back singles to start the inning. After Michale Chavis struck out and Oneil Cruz reached on a fielder’s choice, the Pirates had runners on the corners with two outs.

This brought the struggling Yoshi Tsutsugo to the plate. In his biggest hit since returning from the injured list and one of his biggest hits of the season, Tsutsugo singled on a ground ball to left field to make the score 1-0 Pittsburgh Pirates. This proved to be enough for the Pirates, who went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday afternoon’s series finale will see Mitch Keller toe the rubber for the Pirates. The Marlins plan to send National League Cy Young Award frontrunner Sandy Alcantara (1.76 ERA, 2.72 FIP) to the mound. First pitch of the series rubber match from PNC Park is scheduled fro 1:10 PM ET.