Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen each homered and Joey Bart hit an RBI double to propel the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.
Pittsburgh (63-77) has won four of its past five games and is 11-4 over its past 15, while the Dodgers (78-61) have lost four of their past five games entering Thursday’s series finale.
The hitting was enough to back up a stellar effort from Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows (2-4), Evan Sisk, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana, who combined to allow just five hits in Pittsburgh’s major league-leading 17th shutout this season. Santana picked up his 13th save to close out the eighth shutout loss this season for the Dodgers.
As the Pirates continue to give their rookie pitchers opportunities to audition for rotation spots, Ashcraft pitched the first three innings and allowed two hits, walked four and struck out four. Burrows pitched the next three frames, giving up two hits, walking one and striking out three.
Reynolds opened the scoring in the first with a 12-pitch at-bat against Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan (5-3), which ended with a solo home run over the right field wall. It was Reynolds’ 15th of the season.
Sheehan got the call to start early Wednesday after Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his scheduled start and served as the Dodgers’ designated hitter. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said pregame that Ohtani was dealing with a chest cold and that he would likely make his next scheduled start this weekend at Baltimore.
Ohtani still recorded two hits, including his 20th double of the season, to lead the Dodgers at the plate.
McCutchen extended the Pirates’ lead to 2-0 with a home run in the second. It was McCutchen’s 13th of the season and 332nd of his career. Bart added his RBI double in the sixth and finished with three of Pittsburgh’s seven hits.
Dalton Rushing pinch hit for catcher Will Smith in the third after Smith was hit on his bare hand by a foul ball behind the plate. Rushing, Freddie Freeman and Alex Call each had a hit.
Pirates rookie Cam Devanney recorded his first major league hit with a second-inning single.
