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Stone Crabs' Ortiz blanks competition again

Rays righty posts second scoreless outing in last three starts
Willy Ortiz had a 3.06 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over 16 starts with Bowling Green last season. (Paul R. Gierhart/MiLB.com)
May 14, 2018

Tampa Bay prospect Willy Ortiz posted another clean sheet Monday in the Florida State League.The 22-year-old right-hander allowed one hit and two walks while striking out three over six shutout innings in the second scoreless start of his last three outings and No. 24 overall prospectBrendan McKay made his Class

Tampa Bay prospect Willy Ortiz posted another clean sheet Monday in the Florida State League.
The 22-year-old right-hander allowed one hit and two walks while striking out three over six shutout innings in the second scoreless start of his last three outings and No. 24 overall prospectBrendan McKay made his Class A Advanced debut as Charlotte fell to Lakeland, 9-4, at Charlotte Sports Park.

Gameday box score
The lone hit Ortiz (3-0) surrendered came in the opening frame when Flying Tigers No. 3 hitter Chad Sedio singled to right field on the first pitch he saw. From there, the native of the Dominican Republic set down six in a row and finished his outing by retiring the final eight batters he faced. He threw 62 of 97 pitches for strikes.
Of the three baserunners that Ortiz allowed, only Cam Gibson made it into scoring position. In the third inning, he earned a two-out walk, stole second base and moved to third on a balk. Ortiz stranded him by striking out ninth-ranked Detroit prospectDaz Cameron on a 2-2 fastball.
The righty has amassed a 2.13 ERA over his first seven Florida State League starts. In 38 innings, he's allowed 10 runs -- nine earned -- on 24 hits and 14 walks while punching out 30. His .175 average-against ranks second in the league to Tampa's Trevor Stephan.

Two-way standout McKay, the Rays' No. 3 prospect, started at first base and finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. No. 11 Rays prospect Josh Lowe went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Cameron plated two runs and scored, walking and singling during a nine-run eighth inning for Lakeland.
Flying Tigers left-hander Trent Szkutnik (2-2) struck out one over two perfect frames of relief to pick up the win.

Rob Terranova is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobTnova24.