Ortiz escaped with a no-decision in Friday's 9-8 loss to the Diamondbacks, coughing up six runs on six hits -- including three home runs -- and three walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out two.
All three long balls came in the first inning, as Ketel Marte, Joc Pederson and Josh Bell went back-to-back-to-back as part of a five-run frame. It's the first time since June 21 that Ortiz has served up multiple homers, and over six appearances between those two games he'd posted a 1.71 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 27:6 K:BB through 31.2 innings. With Jared Jones (lat) inching closer to a return though, Ortiz likely can't afford more meltdowns if he wants to hang onto his spot in the rotation. He's scheduled to make his next start at home next week against the Padres.