Ortiz helping stabilize Guardians’ rotation: ‘He gave us a chance to win’

CLEVELAND — Luis L. Ortiz’s May started about as poorly as it could, when he allowed six runs (five earned) in a loss to the Nationals in Game 1 of a May 6 doubleheader.

On Friday, he finished the month on a much stronger note by allowing just one run over six innings in Cleveland’s 4-1 loss to the Angels at Progressive Field.

“He gave us six really solid innings,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He gave us a chance to win.”

It was the latest ride on what has been a roller-coaster three months for the first-year Guardian.

After beginning the year with a rough start against the Padres on March 31, Ortiz had a solid but inconsistent April that was highlighted by a 6 1/3-inning gem against the Twins at the end of the month.

And while Ortiz’s May wasn’t as rocky as his March/April, the Guardians are hoping that his start sets the tone for what will be an important June.

“When he’s at his best, it’s because he’s attacking the zone,” said catcher Bo Naylor. “It’s an ongoing conversation and something that we emphasize every time that he goes out there.”

While Ortiz got only 10 whiffs with his pitches (which tied his season low), he got a season-high 22 called strikes – 13 of them on his sinker.

“I was trying to be aggressive from the get-go … that gives me the confidence to pitch,” Ortiz said through interpreter Agustin Rivero.

The Guardians couldn’t muster much behind Ortiz, as their only run came in the ninth inning on an RBI single from Nolan Jones. Angels starter José Soriano baffled the Guardians in six scoreless innings to outduel Ortiz.

“He just had it all working,” Vogt said of Soriano.

Ortiz’s strong start comes at a time when Cleveland’s starting rotation is in a bit of a transition.

Ben Lively is done for the year because of Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, Joey Cantillo is currently building up as a starter at Triple-A Columbus after starting the year in the bullpen and Logan Allen (who hasn’t made it out of the fourth inning in either of his past two starts) is in the bullpen for the series against the Angels after getting his turn in the rotation skipped over.

While Vogt said that Allen will go back to the rotation after the series, it was another complication for a team that just had to start journeyman Kolby Allard against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

But, as Ortiz embodied on Friday, Cleveland’s rotation seems to have taken those changes in stride. The unit has a 3.38 ERA in May after posting a 4.84 ERA in March/April.

And while Shane Bieber is getting closer as he recovers from Tommy John surgery (he’s making his season debut in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League on Saturday), the Guardians will still likely need to wait a bit for their Cy Young-sized reinforcement to enter the MLB picture.

That pitching picture got a little more complicated in the eighth inning when Andrew Walters left the game with an apparent right arm injury.

Walters got a late start to the season because of shoulder stiffness and missed a month on the Minor League injured list due to a gradual onset of right forearm/elbow inflammation.

Walters left the game with Vogt and a trainer and was in apparent pain.

“He felt the pain in his armpit,” Vogt said. “Everybody saw it. We’re going to get an MRI tomorrow, but it’s obviously not good.”

Walters impressed last year (he posted a 0.77 ERA in 11 2/3 innings across the regular season and postseason), and he likely would have broken camp in the Guardians’ bullpen had he not suffered his Spring Training injury.

Nic Enright, Zak Kent and Cody Bolton are all in Triple-A and have seen Major League action this year. The Guardians also claimed lefty reliever Matt Krook off waivers from the Athletics on Thursday.

Angels reliever Robert Stephenson also left the game with an injury in the seventh.

“These guys work so hard to keep themselves healthy and go out and put it on the line for their teammates every night, so to watch them walk off the mound like that was a tough night,” Vogt said.