Brewers 8, Giants 6

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- 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 8-6 loss the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in their final Cactus League game. "I never looked at him any other way than that. I thought of him as one of the guys."

Left-hander Barry Zito will start Tuesday's opener against the San Diego Padres and be followed in the rotation by right-hander Matt Cain, righty Matt Morris, lefty Noah Lowry and Ortiz.

"It's great," Ortiz said. "I told someone the other day that I'd be one of the happiest guys to have a spot on the team, especially in the rotation. I did the work I needed to do because I love to play the game and I would love to help the team win a championship."

Brewers starter Ben Sheets was scaled back to four-plus innings in his final tuneup before he takes the mound opening day Monday in Milwaukee against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed two earned runs and eight hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter.

"I threw all right. I don't think I got ahead of anybody," he said, eager to be done and on the way out of town after Thursday's Arizona finale against the Angels. "I'm glad to get out of here. I don't like anything about Arizona but leaving."

The 32-year-old Ortiz finally heard that he had secured the fifth spot, yet never really worried about it. He went about his business all spring not considering himself in a competition with rookie left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, whose status was still unclear.

Sanchez could be sent to Triple-A Fresno to remain a starter or perhaps come out of the bullpen in the big leagues as the team originally said would be the case if he didn't start.

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.

"He showed me the Russ I've always known and always had respect for," Lowry said after his final Arizona outing. "He came in and pitched like a front-line starter."

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.

His teammates believe he can bounce back this year.

"To see him go from having such success to not at all was disheartening," said first baseman Rich Aurilia, also back for a second stint in San Francisco. "I've always had a lot of respect for him. I'm proud of him for doing what he did this winter playing winter ball. A lot of guys would have stayed home and collected their money."

Aurilia, nursing a strained right groin, was set to do more work on the field Wednesday with the hopes of getting into Thursday's exhibition game back in San Francisco against the Seattle Mariners. Aurilia expects to be in the lineup opening day.

"Everything is progressing as planned," he said.

Game notes
Brewers 3B Tony Graffanino, nursing stiffness in his back, pinch hit in the ninth. ... Giants OF Todd Linden, who is out of options, finished his impressive spring batting .387 (29-for-75) with two homers and 11 RBI. "I'm happy with it," he said. "I was expecting to have a big spring. I'll take it. Coming in, I just wanted to make sure I secured a spot and hoped my performance in winter ball would carry over." ... Many of the Giants' veterans had already returned to California to get ready for their final four exhibition games. ... San Francisco drew 148,998 fans in 14 home dates at Scottsdale Stadium.