Pirates look to take advantage of cellar-dwelling White Sox

Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Luis L. Ortiz has shuttled back and forth between the bullpen and rotation this season.

He hasn't lost his diplomacy along the way.

Ortiz is set to make his second straight start Saturday when the Pirates try to secure a road series win against the Chicago White Sox. After subduing the New York Mets over six shutout innings on Sunday, though, he reiterated that he is happy in any role.

"Oh, for sure it feels good to have that opportunity to start," Ortiz said via an interpreter. "But like I said ... it doesn't matter where I pitch. Every opportunity, doesn't matter what inning, start, the middle, I'm just going to take advantage of the opportunities."

Ortiz (4-2, 2.95 ERA) is aiming to build on a strong outing from occasional fellow rotation mate Marco Gonzales.

Activated from the 60-day injured list before the Friday game, Gonzales delivered five innings of one-run ball to help Pittsburgh win the series opener 4-1.

Ke'Bryan Hayes had two hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh. David Bednar, who came off the 15-day IL pregame, worked a perfect ninth inning for his 17th save.

"That's what you want to see is good timely hitting, good plays on defense and we throw strikes and keep guys off bases," Bednar said. "Good things happen."

The Pirates have won four of five while the White Sox have lost five of six.

Luis Robert Jr. gave Chicago an early lead with a third-inning RBI single and Paul DeJong had two hits, but the White Sox struggled to deliver in the clutch, stranding five runners and batting 2-for-8 with men in scoring position.

Chicago collected seven of its eight hits in the first four innings. That seemed to jive well with All-Star lefty Garrett Crochet on the mound, but he exited the game after two perfect innings with four strikeouts.

"We've had that plan in place just so we could take full advantage of the (All-Star) break," said Crochet, who has a major-league-best 150 strikeouts in a career-high 107 1/3 innings.

Fine by the Pirates.

"When Crochet came out, it gave us extra momentum," said Pittsburgh's Jared Triolo, who hit an RBI single against Jonathan Cannon in the fifth inning for the team's first run.

The White Sox have the worst record in baseball at 27-69 and have dropped eight of 11 since June 30.

Victories on Saturday and Sunday would help the White Sox avoid losing their final four series before the break.

Right-hander Chris Flexen (2-7, 4.95 ERA) is set to get the call for Chicago. After allowing six runs, three earned, in six innings at Cleveland on July 2, Flexen worked six innings of two-run ball on Monday against the Minnesota Twin.

Flexen has made one previous appearance against Pittsburgh, when he allowed one run in a two-inning relief outing for the Seattle Mariners on May 26, 2023.

Ortiz hasn't faced the White Sox in his career. He is 2-3 with a 3.76 ERA in 15 career interleague appearances, including five starts.

--Field Level Media