PITTSBURGH — The Arizona Diamondbacks greeted Pittsburgh Pirates starter Luis L. Ortiz on Friday night with a Little League homer followed by back-to-back-to-back homers.
Four batters, four round trips to home plate.
Ortiz entered the start carrying a 2.75 ERA for the surging Pirates. He had five runs charged to his ledger in the first inning Friday.
First a Little League home run then THREE consecutive homers for the Diamondbacks 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aTubnO2Nwg
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 2, 2024
The chaos began with Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Corbin Carroll legging out a triple into the right-field corner. Shortstop Oneil Cruz, who’d committed five errors in the Pirates’ previous series, tried to cut down Carroll at third base but threw wildly. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes apparently did not expect Carroll to keep running, because he was slow to field the ball and threw late to home.
Ketel Marte smashed an Ortiz fastball into the top row of the right-field seats. Joc Pederson belted a slider over those seats and onto the concourse. Then, after a mound visit, Josh Bell — the former Pirates first baseman making his Diamondbacks debut — parked a first-pitch heater beyond the center-field wall.
The PNC Park crowd made it clear the proceedings were going poorly.
And the trouble wasn’t over. After the back-to-back-to-back jacks, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. bounced a grounder past Ortiz that first baseman Rowdy Tellez fielded — and Ortiz neglected to cover first base.
After a wild pitch and a walk, Ortiz got his first out on a Eugenio Suárez fly ball that would have been a three-run homer had it not been hit to the deepest part of the ballpark. Bryan Reynolds caught the ball in the left-center notch, just in front of the 410-foot sign. An Alek Thomas grounder scored the Diamondbacks’ fifth run of the game, and a Geraldo Perdomo ended the marathon inning. Ortiz walked off the field to a mix of Bronx cheers and boos.
He did, however, survive the inning and keep pitching.
(Top photo of Corbin Carroll: Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
