Chase De Jong and the Pittsburgh Pirates are feeling especially high after their surprising sweep of the loaded Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. De Jong took the win in the finale of that three-game series,  pitching 1.1 scoreless innings,  allowing just a walk, and striking out a batter over that stretch.

After the game, De Jong expressed how he thinks sweeping the Dodgers might just be the start of better things to come for the Pirates.

Via Justice delos Santos:

Chase De Jong on the sweep: “I think it could snowball for us. I think it's going to breed a lot of confidence. A lot of guys showed up to this series and really opened some eyes.”

After giving the Dodgers an embarrassing experience, the Pirates have improved to 22-27. They are still way behind — 8.5 games to be exact — of the National League Central division leading Milwaukee Brewers, but are now only two games back of the St. Louis Cardinals for the second spot in the group.

The Pirates have not appeared in the postseason since 2015 when they lost in the wild-card round to the Chicago Cubs. In fact, the last time the Pirates won a postseason game was over four decades ago, which was in 1979 when they went all the way and won the World Series.

Up next for the Pirates is a three-game homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks.