Luis Ortiz lifts Pirates to 3-1 victory over Marlins

The Pittsburgh Pirates finally got back into the win column. After back-to-back-to-back sweeps twice to the Chicago Cubs and once to the Milwaukee Brewers and a series-opening loss to the Miami Marlins, Luis Ortiz came in on Friday night with an absolute gem, lifting the Buccos to a 3-1 victory.

Ortiz went eight strong innings, giving up just one run while scattering seven hits to go along with two walks and five strikeouts. But he nearly took the loss before the Buccos —who were being shutout — then snagged three runs in the top of the ninth.

They got singles from Josh Palacios and Andrew McCutchen, who then both executed a double steal before Connor Joe tied the game on a groundout that scored Palacios. Singles by Carlos Santana and Tucapita Marcano also drove in runs to give Pittsburgh the 3-1 lead, and David Bednar pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 15th save of the year.

The Pirates had just seven hits on the evening, but it was enough, with Henry Davis your only multi-hit Bucco. He went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .267.

The Bucs broke a 10-game losing streak with the win to move to 35-40 on the year. Despite the horrible funk they’ve been in, they still stand just 5.5 games out of first place in the weak NL Central division, with another game on tap today against Miami at 4:10pm. The Bucs will be looking to start a win streak.