Luis Ortiz stymies Guardians as Pirates end 4-game losing streak

Luis Ortiz is quietly building a scoreless streak during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ free fall in the second half of the season.

Ortiz enjoyed his second strong start in a row and a rattled bullpen ended a string of disappointing performances as the Pirates beat the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians, 3-0, Saturday night at Progressive Field.

Ortiz held the Guardians to one hit over six innings and extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings. Three relievers preserved the victory by combining for three innings of one-hit ball as the Pirates ended a four-game losing streak.

“We pitched really well tonight,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “We got a couple of big hits when we needed them, but overall, I was really happy with how we threw the ball.”

Ortiz (6-4), who took a no-hitter into the fifth, walked three and struck out five while throwing 87 pitches, 53 for strikes. The only hit he surrendered was a two-out single by Bo Naylor.

“I felt good,” Ortiz conveyed through translator and Pirates coach Stephen Morales. “I put in a lot of hard work this week, not just getting myself ready for this game but also watching a lot of videos and watching the game from (Friday) that told me a lot. That’s what put me in a good spot today.”

Ortiz credited a crisp slider for helping his other pitches work so well.

“The slider was there today,” he said. “As I’ve been doing since day 1, the plan was just to attack the strike zone and use my pitches.”

Jalen Beeks, Dennis Santana and Aroldis Chapman closed out the victory with Chapman earning his fifth save by striking out two in the ninth on the 14th anniversary of his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 2010.

“When you look back, it feels like the time went really fast,” Chapman said through Morales.

Chapman has been a longtime major league closer, most notably with the Reds from 2012-15 and New York Yankees from 2017-19 and also in 2021. He has totaled 326 saves during a 15-year career, the fourth-most by a lefthander.

“It doesn’t feel like I’m the closer of this team,” he said. “I told Shelty in a conversation the other day about me being ready from the seventh through the ninth innings, and I’m just going to do my job until our closer gets back. Hopefully, he gets back quick and it’ll be all good.”

It marked the second game since two-time all-star David Bednar was pulled from his closer’s role before Friday’s 10-8 loss to the Guardians. The struggling Bednar is 3-7 with a 6.32 ERA in 50 appearances with six blown saves in 29 opportunities this season, most coming during a dreadful stretch in August.

“It was a good way to end August, because we’ve had a challenge in August putting up zeros,” Shelton said. “We need to build on that and finish strong.”

Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds leaped high in the air against the wall to rob Cleveland’s Lane Thomas of extra bases in the seventh inning with the Pirates leading 1-0 before firing to second to double-up Josh Naylor and end the inning.

“I really didn’t know what happened because we threw it in and the runners were advancing,” said second baseman Nick Gonzales, who took the throw from Reynolds and stepped on the second base bag to complete the double play. “It was a sweet catch by Reynolds.”

Shelton said it looked as though the ball “almost scraped the wall.

“It was a heck of a play,” he said.

Reynolds also made a diving catch of a line drive by Josh Naylor in the second to end the inning.

The Pirates scored a run in the fourth against Matthew Boyd (1-1), who was making just his fourth start of the season. He lasted six innings, giving up four hits and no walks while striking out eight.

Gonzales, who had three of the Pirates’ nine hits, doubled to left and scored on a single by Andrew McCutchen, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.

McCutchen, the Pirates’ primary DH this year, returned to the lineup Friday after going on the 10-day IL for a left knee injury and was inserted into the cleanup spot by Shelton after spending most of his time in the leadoff position.

He responded with two hits and three RBIs, including a ninth-inning homer off Guardians all-star closer Emmanuel Clase.

The Pirates wasted an opportunity to break open Saturday’s game in the seventh, loading the bases before Henry Davis flied out to center to end the threat.

But they added a pair of runs in the eighth after again loading the bases with two outs. Rowdy Tellez, pinch-hitting for Connor Joe, lined a single to right, scoring Gonzales and Reynolds.

“Awesome for Rowdy to come in late like that,” Gonzales said. “It’s huge.”

In his most recent start, Ortiz hurled six shutout innings Sunday in a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park but didn’t figure in a decision.

He gave up four hits and one walk while striking out five and left with a 2-0 lead before the Reds went in front in the sixth. Yasmani Grandal’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth gave the Pirates the victory.

In his latest outing, Ortiz battled through the sixth inning after jamming a toe, according to Shelton.

“He was having trouble planting on it,” Shelton said.

But it wasn’t the reason Oritz’s night was about to be over.

“I took him out because of where we were in the lineup in that spot,” Shelton said. “He really did a good job getting us through six. It was a start we needed. He’s done a good job in his last two starts.”