CINCINNATI — It didn’t take Luis Ortiz long at all to show that he meant business, that his start Tuesday in the second game of a doubleheader against the Reds at Great American Ball Park was more than a token, late-season gesture, a reward for a job well done.
The offering from Ortiz, a 23-year-old right-hander who apparently came equipped with a lightning bolt for an arm, popped Jason Delay’s mitt for a called strike to left fielder TJ Friedl at 98.5 mph. He then proceeded to throw more than three dozen pitches harder than that throughout a virtuoso debut that carried the Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the Reds, completing a doubleheader sweep.
Recalled on the heels of six no-hit innings in which he struck out nine while pitching for Triple-A Indianapolis, Ortiz was again a dominant force while slinging heat and a knee-buckling slider, delivering 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball and striking out five Reds hitters. It kickstarted a one-hitter for the Pirates pitching staff. More than that, though, was how Ortiz did it: the scorching fastball and electric stuff.
