Cruz, Ortiz help Pirates beat Phillies for 6th straight win

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Luis Ortiz pitched seven shutout innings, Oneil Cruz had a home run and three RBIs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates stretched their winning streak to six games with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.

Ortiz (5-2), who had not gone more than six innings this season, gave up three hits and two walks with two strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.57.

“Obviously, it feels good to go out there and throw seven scoreless, but it’s just an inning-by-inning thing that I’ve prepared my mind for,” Ortiz said. “To go out there every inning, first pitch to be aggressive and attack the strike zone. The results are there.”

Andrew McCutchen led off the sixth inning by hitting a 3-1 sinker from Cristopher Sánchez (7-5) 431 feet into the bullpen in left-center field. Nick Gonzales, who hit the winning RBI single in the ninth inning of an 8-7 win Friday night, got on with a two-out single and scored on Cruz’s double off the wall in right.

“I didn’t even know we had six (straight) wins but I think it’s just the way our mentality is,” McCutchen said. “Just show up, try to win today. Obviously, with the pitching we’ve been able to have, our starters have been going out and we’ve been able to get some timely hitting when we’ve needed, even if our starters aren’t able to be able to shut them out like Ortiz did today.

“The timely hitting, guys staying within themselves, it’s just all-around good baseball. When you play good baseball, you win games. It’s what we’re doing right now.”

Cruz hit a two-out, two-run home run 422 feet off a fastball from Matt Strahm to make it 4-0 in the eighth. He also had three RBIs on Friday.

“This kid likes the lights. I think we’ve seen that the last two nights,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “He’s stepped his game up a little bit. And he’s healthy now, which before the break, he wasn’t healthy. It’s been very much needed, and it’s fun to watch.”

Bryce Harper hit his 22nd homer off Pirates closer David Bednar with one out in the ninth.

Sánchez was pulled after allowing two runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Phillies, who have lost three games in a row and four of their last five.

“That happens,” Sánchez said. “That’s just part of the game. You just have to make the right adjustments and keep it going.”

Gonzales came close to putting Pittsburgh ahead in the first inning, driving a liner to center that would have scored Bryan Reynolds from second. But Johan Rojas made a diving catch, going forward and stretching to his left to keep it from slipping into the gap.

“They’re good,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of the Pirates. “I mean, they’re talented. They’ve got good starting pitching. They’ve got thump in the middle of their lineup. They’ve got a good bullpen, especially the back end. They’re a good club.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: C J.T. Realmuto, who had right knee meniscectomy surgery on June 12, was reinstated from the 10-day injured list. He was 1 for 3 with a walk. ... LHP Ranger Suárez (low back spasms) and RHP Zack Wheeler (back tightness) will return for Philadelphia’s next series at the Minnesota Twins. Suárez will start Monday and Wheeler will take the mound Tuesday.

UP NEXT

LHP Marco Gonzales (1-0, 2.45 ERA) will take the mound as the Pirates go for the three-game sweep Sunday, opposite Phillies RHP Tyler Phillips (1-0, 4.50).

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