With 7 shutout innings in win over Marlins, Jose Quintana perhaps aids trade value for Pirates

It’s possible the Pittsburgh Pirates’ future organizational prospect depth improved Saturday night. And not because of what any of their current minor leaguers did.

In what almost certainly was one of his final two starts for the organization, veteran Jose Quintana threw seven shutout innings in lifting the Pirates to a 1-0 victory against the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

With the MLB trade deadline 11 days away and Quintana on a short list of desirable targets for teams in need of a left-handed starter, the 33-year-old perhaps further increased his trade value by continuing to mix a low-90s fastball, curve and changeup as he has all season.

“I know (there are) a lot of rumors around me,” Quintana said after the game. “I’ve been in this situation before. I don’t pay attention to that right now. I just want to keep throwing the ball well. Today, I was focusing on executing my pitches and trying to spend fewer pitches per at-bat. That’s all I have control of. I want to keep focusing on that.”

A 2016 All-Star, Quintana (3-5) induced nine swings and misses among his 81 pitchers (52 strikes). All four of Miami’s hits against Quintana were singles. He did not walk a batter, and the only runner to reach third base while he was in the game was Luke Williams in the third inning. Williams reached via one of two throwing errors by Ke’Bryan Hayes.

Thanks in part to three double plays and a caught stealing, Quintana faced just three batters over the seven-inning minimum (24).

“He was really good,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.

“He went out and executed. He moved the fastball around. He was extremely efficient. … A really good outing because that’s a pretty good right-handed hitting club.”

During 11 of his 19 starts this season, Quintana has allowed two or fewer earned runs while working at least five innings. His season ERA dropped to 3.70.

The Pirates had endured 23 consecutive outs on plate appearances through the final seven innings of an 8-1 loss Friday and the first two batters Saturday. But after walking Hayes with two outs in the first, Marlins starter Max Meyer left the game because of what the team described as elbow discomfort.

Miami then was forced to deploy a bullpen game, but that did little to spark a Pirates offense that has produced two or fewer runs in five of their past six games.

With Quintana dealing, though, all the Pirates needed was one. That came in the sixth on a two-out single by Yoshi Tsutsugo, who snapped out of a 1-for-21 slump with a hit up the middle off Tanner Scott that scored Ben Gamel.

“He’s been grinding a little bit,” Shelton said of Tsutsugo. “I thought he had three really good at-bats tonight.”

The Pirates were limited to nine hits, and all but one (a Kevin Newman third-inning double) were singles. The only member of the starting lineup not to have a hit was Hayes, who had a nine-game hitting streak snapped.

Wil Crowe worked around a hit batter and single during a scoreless eighth inning, and David Bednar earned his 17th save despite issuing a one-out walk in the ninth.

The shutout was the Pirates’ third this season, their first since June 5 and their second by a 1-0 score over the past four seasons.

Before Saturday, the Pirates (40-55) had lost five of their previous six.

Quintana improved his ERA at PNC Park this season to 2.64. But will he make another start there? His next turn in the rotation is scheduled for Friday’s home game against the Philadelphia Phillies. But another team by then might dangle too attractive of a trade package for Pirates general manager Ben Cherington to resist.

Cherington has shown a tendency to make deals before deadline days, and the selling off of veterans is underway after Friday’s trade of designated hitter and team RBI leader Daniel Vogelbach to the New York Mets.

Quintana, who is making $2 million this season on a one-year deal he signed in November, took the trade talk in stride and instead focused his postgame remarks on the win.

“It feels great to start the second half strong, and that’s what I had in my mind today — tie this series, get the first win of the second half,” Quintana said. “And I am really focusing on things I can control.

“I have been around for a long time and I have tried to have nothing distract me, so just really focusing on things I have control of. So I am really happy with this outing, that’s how I wanted to start strong and just keep it going.”

Love baseball? Stay up-to-date with the latest Pittsburgh Pirates news.