Behind Luis Ortiz's strong 6 innings pitched, the Pirates beat the Reds 6-1 and take 2 of 3 in the series. The Pirates are now 4-2 against the Reds after taking a second straight series against them.
Ortiz had been coming into ballgames in relief behind an opener, this time he got the start and pitched extremely efficient. He only allowed 1 run on 4 hits and struck out 7. Ortiz threw 61 of his 85 pitches for strikes and faced 3 up 3 down, in 4 of his 6 innings.
"I think the biggest thing is no walks," said manager Derek Shelton. "He went right after them, he gave up the run, he came back, had the shut down inning, really important. Overall extremely impressive."
He matched his career high in strikeouts with the 7 he had. Ortiz improves to 4-2 on the season.
"I think he's proven that he can start at the Major League Level. What we do going forward is something we have not decided yet, but I think the fact that he's thrown well in multiple roles, he's thrown well in mid-leverage role, leverage role, bulk guy and now he's had a really good start. It's a good situation to be in," said Shelton.
Jack Suwinski opened the scoring in the top of the second with an RBI single. Jonathan India would tie the game in the bottom of the third with an RBI double. Then the Pirates offense took over the game.
Rowdy Tellez homered in the top of the 4th to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Rowdy is hitting .362 in the month of June with 12 RBI and 5 doubles.
"Having a middle of the order bat that's able to drive in runs, I think we see the confidence continue to come back. He just has good at bats. I think the big thing now is he's starting to use the whole side of the field. I think early on, once he started to get into a bit of a downturn he was trying to do too much. He was off the ball, the home run he hit to left, the base hit to left, I think those things are important," said Shelton.
Andrew McCutchen extended the lead with a 2 run blast to center field, his 11th of the season. Jason Delay batted in two in the top of the 6th with a double to give the pitching staff a 5 run lead.
Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 23 straight games after he singled to center field in the top of the first. It's the longest hitting streak in the MLB this season.
The Pirates have now won 11 of the last 16 meetings with the Reds.
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