There are only three teams in the National League with worse records than the (now) 12-16 Pittsburgh Pirates: the 9-18 Chicago Cubs, the 10-20 Washington Nationals, and the 6-23 Cincinnati Reds, who, ironically, have won their last three games. But you certainly wouldn’t know this based on the Pirates’ dominating 5-1 win over the team with the (now) second-best record in the National League – the (now) 19-8 Los Angeles Dodgers – on Monday evening.

In front of a meager Three Rivers Stadium crowd of 8,527, a good many of whom were wearing Dodger Blue, the Pirates limited the Dodgers to only one run and only five hits; this after Dodgers manager Dave Roberts‘ team came off a three-game series sweep of those aforementioned Cubs in which the scored a combined 20 runs on 24 hits.

“We obviously got outhit,” Roberts told reporters after his team’s less-than-stellar performance. “I thought [Pirates left-hander José] Quintana was really good tonight; he’s having a nice year. When we did hit balls hard, someone was there. They made a couple of nice plays out there.”

Adding insult to injury – or vice versa – popular Dodgers utility infielder / outfielder Chris Taylor had to come out of the game after fouling a ball off his left knee in the top of the sixth inning.

“I think that right now it’s day-to-day,” Roberts said of Taylor’s injury postgame. “The scan showed that there was no fracture, just a bone bruise. So, he’ll lay low tomorrow, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

As for the Dodgers pitching, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Twenty-five-year-old Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías, who has been nothing short of sensational thus far this season, had an awful outing, allowing two runs on eleven hits. Among those 11 hits was a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning by Pirates catcher Michael Perez, who would be the last batter Urías would face, having made 82 pitches (62 strikes) to that point.

“I thought Julio did a nice job, scattering a bunch of hits out there but giving us length, I thought he pitched well,” Roberts said of his young left-hander. “I know he’s going to want that fastball back from Perez, but I thought he pitched a nice ballgame tonight.”

“Obviously, we know that this wasn’t the result we were looking for,” Urías said postgame through an interpreter. “They gave me their confidence, and I, unfortunately, failed in that inning. That’s why I feel that I always respect whenever they decide to take me out.”

The Dodgers’ lone run came on a first-pitch pinch-hit solo home run to straightaway center field by Edwin Ríos to lead off the top of the ninth inning. And even though Home Run Tracker had it at 407 feet, it was a matter of too little, too late for a seemingly lethargic Dodgers team.

Popular Dodgers third baseman / designated hitter Justin Turner summed it up best:

“That’s just baseball, man. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Play Ball!

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