Ortiz Is First to Reach 18 Victories

Acquired in a trade with San Francisco in December, Russ Ortiz has fit smoothly into the Atlanta rotation -- just like almost every other Braves starter over the last dozen years.

So much so, it almost seems routine to Manager Bobby Cox.

“Russ pitched his normal game again -- just a duplicate of all the other ones,” Cox said Sunday after Ortiz pitched Atlanta to a 12-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Ortiz posted his major league-leading 18th win as the Braves swept the three-game series, rebounding from being swept in three games by the Giants in San Francisco last week.

Gary Sheffield homered and drove in three runs. Rafael Furcal, who homered, and Chipper Jones each had four hits and two RBIs for Atlanta. Vinny Castilla also homered as the Braves got 17 hits, one shy of their season high.

The Rockies were swept at Coors Field for the first time this season.

The game was briefly delayed in the top of the fifth when a fan injured his leg while participating in a flyball-catching contest between innings. He had to be carted off the field.

Ortiz (18-5) yielded seven hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out five. He matched his career high of 18 victories set with San Francisco in 1999.

Ortiz also helped himself at the plate. He hit a sacrifice fly and later a single, scoring on Furcal’s homer in the seventh.

“For the most part, I felt I made my pitches and hit my spots,” Ortiz said. “That’s one thing about this park. All you can do is make your pitches and not worry about how the ball travels or anything like that.”

Asked about the prospect of winning 20 games, Ortiz said, “I don’t really think about it too much. Obviously, it’s a possibility, but I’m just looking start by start. That helps me focus on the team.”

He also shrugged off suggestions that he was a leading contender for the NL Cy Young Award.

“You’ve got guys like [Atlanta reliever John] Smoltz and [Dodger reliever Eric] Gagne and who knows what’s going to happen with other starters too. Too many possibilities for me to worry about.”

Denny Stark (2-2) went five innings, giving up 10 hits and seven runs, six earned.

It was only his second loss at Coors Field, where he is 9-2 in 18 starts over two seasons.

“Our starting pitching got manhandled two out of three games,” Colorado Manager Clint Hurdle said. “Stark pitched a good game his last time out. We were looking for some momentum, some consistency, to keep something positive going, and we got everything but that.”

Hurdle said opponents must bring “their ‘A’ game” to deal with the Braves.

“They’re real good,” he said. “They’re what, 38 games over .500 now? That’s a lot.”

After yielding two hits in the seventh, Ortiz was replaced by Ray King, who gave up a two-run double to pinch-hitter Greg Norton.

The double was Norton’s 17th pinch-hit this season, tops in the majors.

The Braves beat Colorado in the season series 6-0, recording the third season series sweep in club history. They beat Colorado, 13-0, in 1993 and the Dodgers, 6-0, in 1994.