Russ Ortiz named Giants' fifth starter

Russ Ortiz will be San Francisco's fifth starter just as the Giants have intended since signing the right-hander in January for a second stint with the club. Not that there ever was much doubt he would win the job this spring and put his nightmare 2006 season in the past. "He's doing great," pitching coach Dave Righetti said before the club's final Cactus League game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. "I never looked at him any other way than that. I thought of him as one of the guys."

The rotation will go left-hander Barry Zito -- the scheduled starter opening day April 3 against the San Diego Padres -- followed by right-hander Matt Cain, righty Matt Morris, lefty Noah Lowry and Ortiz.

For Ortiz, there have been many ups and downs since he left the Giants after the 2002 season, when he walked off the mound eight outs away from a World Series title only to see the bullpen blow a five-run lead in Game 6 and the wild-card Angels go on to win the seventh game, too.

Ortiz's comeback has been humbling. First there was a trade to Atlanta in December 2002, followed by 36 wins and a pair of division titles in two seasons. After parlaying that into a $33 million, four-year contract with Arizona, little went right for Ortiz. He went 5-11 in his first season with the Diamondbacks before everything fell apart last year in an 0-8 campaign, a release from Arizona and recommendations that he should call it a career. He was winless in 26 outings, including 11 starts, overall last year for the Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles, who dropped him out of their rotation in July.

"With Baltimore and San Francisco, those are two teams that gave me a tremendous opportunity when things weren't going well," Ortiz said. Ortiz pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League this offseason and continued to work on his mechanics after Orioles pitching coach Leo Mazzone helped him figure out what the problem was: how the ball was coming out of his glove. The Giants watched him closely and were impressed with his improved arm speed, command and breaking ball.

Now, Ortiz hopes to return to the pitcher he was previously with the Giants and get results like his career-high 21 wins in 2003 with the Braves that earned him a trip to the All-Star game. He is leaner, having lost about 13 pounds by easing up on his weightlifting routine and cutting out sugar from his diet.
Source: AP