'I'm never going to forget this day': Pirates LHP Jose Quintana celebrates 10 years in majors

On a day when Hunter Greene no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates for seven-plus innings, Jose Quintana quietly matched the Cincinnati Reds rookie zero for zero in the line score.

Quintana celebrated 10 years of major-league service Sunday – a major milestone for the 33-year-old left-hander – by tossing seven scoreless innings in the 1-0 win over the Reds at PNC Park.

That made it a special day for Quintana, who tried his best to match one of baseball’s most talented young pitchers with an arsenal that was almost as effective if not as electric.

“You keep focusing on getting the first out in every inning and keep fighting for my game,” Quintana said. “You never know what’s going to happen after. … I think he threw the ball better than me. It’s a little weird (for Greene) to get a loss like that.”

Pirates LHP Jose Quintana talks about why the 1-0 win over the Reds was a special day for him. pic.twitter.com/AFUxS577bg

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 15, 2022

Where Greene mixed a 100-mph four-seam fastball with a dominant slider over 118 pitches, Quintana was quietly efficient in throwing 62 of his 89 pitches for strikes. With his fastball working early, he needed only eight pitches to retire the Reds in order in the first inning and six in the second, when he gave up a single to Albert Almora Jr. then got Tyler Naquin to line into a double play.

Quintana escaped another jam in the fourth, when Tommy Pham singled to left, reached second on a Mike Moustakas single to right and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Quintana got Almora to ground out.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton called Quintana’s slider “the most effective it’s been all year” and credited his changeup for keeping the Reds off-balance.

“Q was outstanding,” Shelton said. “Ten years in the big leagues today, which is an unbelievable accomplishment. But he was about as good as he can be.”

It marked Quintana’s second consecutive scoreless start, running his streak of scoreless innings to 13. He pitched six shutout innings in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 9, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out five on 105 pitches to earn his first victory since September 2019.

“Man, it’s been fun to watch Q pitch the last few outings,” Pirates second baseman Josh VanMeter said. “He’s competing his tail off and making pitches and throwing everything for a strike, throwing everything on the edges. He’s fun to play defense behind.”

“He works quick, makes it easy on us. I wish we could have gotten him some more runs early in the game. Credit to him for nailing down and doing what he does and keep us in the game.”

Quintana has been the Pirates’ best starting pitcher this season. They are 5-2 in his seven starts but scored only three combined runs in the two one-run losses. Quintana has earned a reputation as a quiet leader in the clubhouse, especially for mentoring the young Latin players.

Even after Greene’s impressive performance, Pirates designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach was more interested in discussing Quintana.

“I think there’s only one person to talk about in this clubhouse and that’s Q,” Vogelbach said. “The way he goes about his business, the way he works, the way he comes every single day, that guy’s unbelievable. He’s given us a chance every single time he’s pitched — and I feel like we never score when he’s pitched — and he never says a word. You’d never know that we don’t give him run support. He’s a pro. It’s unbelievable to watch, and I’m glad he’s on our team.”

A decade of Q.

Congrats on 10 years of MLB service time, José Quintana! pic.twitter.com/nkyiqTcKX8

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 14, 2022

More important to Quintana was celebrating 10 years of major-league service. He was 23 when he made his debut with the Chicago White Sox on May 7, 2012, and the Pirates are his fifth team after signing Quintana to a one-year, $2 million contract last fall with the promise of giving him a chance to be a starter again. His wife, daughter and mother-in-law visited Pittsburgh to celebrate the occasion.

“It means a lot. A long way to be here in the United States for the first time, coming here with huge dreams, my family, I’m proud of that,” said Quintana, a native of Arjona, Colombia. “The people I’ve been around, I say ‘thank you’ to everybody that helped me a lot during this time. It means a lot after you take the “W.” We won the game. That’s special. I’m never going to forget this day.”