Ortiz continues second-half bounce back, but quick hook costs Pirates

And unlike many young pitchers come September, his velocity has held steady and he consistently was pumping 96-98 mph.

"I think there’s less rotation off the ball," Derek Shelton said. "That’s why the velocity has maintained or ticked back up. The attack plan of him going right after people has directly correlated to that."

"Earlier in the season, I felt I was too quick to the plate," Ortiz said. "Now, I’m more under control and controlling my forward movement and all that."

When he's in control and moving consistently, Ortiz has the stuff to be a big part part of the Pirates' rotation going forward, but his leash in-game is evidently still short for now. Ortiz allowed just five runners to reach base, but with two on and one out in the sixth, Shelton went to Ryan Borucki to face lefty Matt Olson, who leads the league in home runs and RBIs.

A wild pitch and ground out brought home the only run charged against to Ortiz in his 5 1/3 innings of work, while a four-run rally in the seventh put the Braves out in front for good, with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Olson delivering a pair of two-out, two-run singles, with all the runs charged to Colin Selby.

Shelton said postgame that he did not think of leaving Ortiz to continue in the sixth.

"Sixth inning, he had done a good job through 5 1/3," Shelton explained. "We had the stretch right there with where we wanted Borucki to be. We get Olson and [Marcell] Ozuna, and we’re going to make them make a decision on [Eddie] Rosario. He had [Kevin] Pillar on deck, but no. That was the stretch right there, and Luis had done his job."

Meanwhile, the offense could not muster much against Allan Winans, who was only dinged for a pair of RBI doubles by Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski in the sixth inning. Joshua Palacios opened the seventh with a triple, but was stranded on third base.

"We have to score there," Shelton said. "We cannot give away opportunities in any case. But you definitely cannot give away opportunities to this club."

With the loss, the Pirates missed an opportunity for a statement series win against the first team to clinch a playoff spot.

"It’s frustrating to lose," Suwinski said. "You want to come out on the road and take these wins. But I thought we played good ball against a really good team."

Another solid showing against a tough team for Ortiz is also a good sign. If he can continue this roll, then a spot in the 2024 opening day rotation seems like a good possibility. 

"That’s always been my goal: Finish strong," Ortiz said. "Put behind what happened in the past and move forward and finish strong."

"[I want to] continue to do what I’ve been doing lately," he added shortly after. "Work hard and whenever the season is over, work even harder during the offseason to come in really good shape and win a spot [in the rotation]."