The Pirates faced a dominant starting pitcher on Sunday, had no hits and won the game, 1-0.
Yes, you read that correctly. Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene, the No. 21-ranked prospect in the majors, as ranked by MLB Pipeline, was utterly dominant through seven innings at PNC Park. He allowed three walks scattered throughout that time, but nobody reached via base hit, and Reds manager David Bell was willing to give Greene all the leash he needed, up until he couldn’t anymore.
With the score still tied 0-0 in the eighth, Greene’s time came to an end. He walked Pirates infielder Rodolfo Castro and catcher Michael Pérez with one out in the inning, and Bell had seen enough. Reliever Art Warren entered and walked outfielder Ben Gamel to load the bases. Then, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes stepped up, rolled a weak grounder to second and beat the double play, driving in the lone Pirates run of the afternoon.
All the while, Pirates left-hander José Quintana was dealing in his own right. He allowed just four baserunners on three hits and a walk through seven shutout frames. He made way for reliever Chris Stratton, who pitched a scoreless eighth, so by the time Hayes secured his RBI groundout, the Pirates had a lead. David Bednar shut down the ninth, completing the anomaly of a win.
The Pirates became the 316th team in MLB history to be no-hit, but just the sixth to win the game. The last team to do it was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who overcame Los Angeles Angels pitchers Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo to win despite being no-hit on June 28, 2008.
"I process it as a win. Winning a major-league game is really hard,” said manager Derek Shelton, who watched the end of the game from the clubhouse after being ejected in for arguing balls and strikes in after the seventh inning. “Something I appreciate every time we do it. We'll take the win. Sometimes they don't look the same, but they all count the same. I'll take it."
As for Greene?
“I'm not focused on wins or losses this year,” he said. “That’s not my focus. It is what it is, but I felt really good about where all my pitches were and very confident in myself. It’s hard not to let your mind drift to that accolade, but, you know, it is what it is.”
Perhaps it’s best for Greene to take this in stride, because he deserves his flowers. His stuff, first and foremost, was electric, with a fastball regularly reaching triple digits and biting breaking stuff that befuddled the Pirates. In fact, in the Pirates’ estimation, Greene’s slider made the difference. Greene seemed to know that, too, throwing it 65 times in 118 pitches, more than his fastball, even.
Throughout the later innings, as Greene’s pitch count crept above 100, the Reds had nobody warming in the bullpen. It wasn’t until he walked Castro that Warren finally got up to get ready. When Greene showed he was out of gas, Bell pulled him in an effort to give his team the chance to win what was a scoreless game. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.
So far, though, it was by far the best start of what many believe will be a long, fruitful career for Greene. Pirates infielder Josh VanMeter was actually Greene’s teammate for a bit in 2020 with the Reds. Both were stationed at Cincinnati’s alternate training site during the COVID-shortened season.
“It’s always hard to anticipate how a guy’s going to attack you,” VanMeter said. “It’s 100 mph, so you’ve got to keep that in the back of your mind. He’s got good stuff. Let’s not get it twisted: He is who he is for a reason. He’s going to be good in this league for a long time. The stuff is there, the makeup is there, the delivery is clean and everything. He had our number today but, at the end of the day, what matters in this league is getting wins and we found an interesting way to get a win today.”
It’s also oddly poetic that Greene, the young fireballer, went to battle against Quintana, the grizzled veteran. Sunday would have been a special day for Quintana anyway, as it officially marked 10 years of major league service time, qualifying him for full pension pay whenever he hangs his cleats up.
As nice as that is, Quintana is still focused on his performance for now, and Sunday was as good as he’s been with the Pirates. After these seven innings, his ERA for the season is now down to 2.19, by far the best among Pirates starters and a strong beginning to what looks like a bounceback year for Quintana. He just so happened to be facing Greene, also lights out.
“I knew what was happening after the fourth,” Quintana said. “You keep focusing on getting the first out in every inning and keep fighting for my game. You never know what’s going to happen after. Like I said, the results is right there. I felt really good today. I think [Greene] threw the ball better than me. It’s a little weird [for him] to get a loss like that.
“This is special for me today, my 10 years in the big leagues. To get a ‘W’ and get a happy flight and everybody brings the energy. That’s really cool.”
That is the main takeaway from the game. Greene was literally unhittable, but he lost, and the Pirates come away feeling like they ground out a tough win against a division opponent.
And for those wondering what to call this, whether it’s a real no-hitter or not, it is. From the Pirates’ perspective, they were no-hit in a regulation-length game, though they are one of six teams in history to be happy about it. On the Reds’ side, it will go down as a no-hitter of fewer than nine innings.
From the perspective of everyone at PNC Park, it will simply go down as one of the strangest Pirates wins anyone has ever seen.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak.
First Published: May 15, 2022, 8:24 p.m.
