Pirates' sweep of Dodgers has MLB experts questioning their championship mettle

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a number of goals at this point in the season. In what has been a lost year, the club is now focused on giving younger players some seasoning, figuring out who will and will not be part of the 2026 plan, and having some fun by playing spoiler against contenders like the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And play spoiler, they have. Pittsburgh came away with a sweep against the reigning World Series champs in what seemed like a surprise on the surface, but really shouldn't be. There have been numerous quirks to the Pirates' season, with the team playing solid baseball since the All-Star break, coming in at a 25-20 record (though they have been outscored 193-198 during that time period).

In another interesting twist, the Pirates have actually played playoff-contender caliber baseball at home this year, something the Dodgers found out firsthand during their visit to PNC Park. For all the hemming and hawing about how pathetic the Pirates have been this year, they're 42-31 in Pittsburgh on the season, good for a .575 winning percentage. For comparison's sake, the Dodgers' winning percentage on the season is just .549.

Pirates' domination of the Dodgers has the experts questioning their ability to repeat as champions

Pittsburgh beat LA in every manner possible over this three-game set. In the opener, the Dodgers tagged Pirates pitching for seven runs, including an historic Shohei Ohtani blast, which put the star in the record books as the fastest player to reach 100 home runs in a Dodger uniform, doing so in just 294 games. History aside, the Pirates' offense, which has been pathetic all season, hung nine runs on Los Angeles to come away with the win.

In Wednesday's matchup, it was the pitching staff's time to shine, as five different Pirates hurlers combined to shut out the Dodgers, winning by a score of 3-0. Finally, in the series finale, the Pirates took care of business with Paul Skenes out-dueling Blake Snell, cementing the sweep with a 5-3 final score.

Following the sweep, the Dodgers have dropped two more against the Baltimore Orioles, putting their record since July 4 at 22-32. That is one of the league's worst performances since Independence Day, and the showing against the Pirates cued MLB TV's experts to raise the alarm bells for Los Angeles.

Concerns abound over the Dodgers' usage of Ohtani the pitcher, their deployment of Mookie Betts at shortstop, and the performance of both their starting rotation and bullpen as a whole. Injuries have also played a major role in limiting Los Angeles's success throughout the 2025 campaign and making them appear much more beatable than originally thought.

This should serve as a lesson in expectations versus reality. The Dodgers had an offseason where they snatched up nearly every high-end free agent, making themselves into something that appeared like an unstoppable juggernaut. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh pinched pennies and looked like a laughingstock.

While the Pirates won't be sniffing the playoffs this year, it serves as an important reminder of why the games are played on grass and championships aren't awarded simply based on how things appear on paper.