PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Pirates couldn’t have asked much more of right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft Sunday afternoon.
Coming off a solid outing against the Chicago Cubs on May 26 where he allowed one earned run, walked two batters and struck out five, Ashcraft looked to cap off the month with one more strong start. He did just that.
“For (Ashcraft) to go six and be as efficient as he was, 80 pitches is exactly what we were hoping to get, max 85," said Pirates manager Don Kelly. "I think that’s a big credit to Braxton for being efficient and doing what he’s been doing extremely well and to our offense for giving us a nice cushion,”
Fanning three of the first five Minnesota batters he faced, Ashcraft was fully in control from the start. After holding the Twins to only a base hit through the first two innings, the Pirates offense backed him up with a Ryan O’Hearn homer and an RBI single off the bat of Jared Triolo in the bottom of the second.
Over the next three innings, Pittsburgh continued to build on its lead while Ashcraft remained steady on the mound.
Besides the occasional base hit, the only major blemish on his outing came in the top of the sixth inning. In a 2-2 count, Ashcraft delivered a four-seam fastball that Brooks Lee roped into the right field seats for a two-run homer. Ashcraft responded by striking out the next two batters he saw to end the frame, and his day on the bump.
“That sixth inning I threw a couple lazy four-seams and I got punished for it," Ashcraft said. "That’s a learning experience, but when those guys go out there and they put runs across the board, it makes it really easy to pitch,”.
As the Pirates cruised to a comfortable 9-3 victory the rest of the way, Ashcraft finished with a final line of 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER and 11Ks. The dominant performance lowered his ERA to 1.99 in the month of May with a 4-0 record, the best among all Pirates starters.
“I could’ve gone out for the seventh inning, but we understand there’s a goal in mind, (and) that’s to play good ball in October. Setting ourselves up to be able to do that is at the foremost of our minds,” Ashcraft said.
Numbers show huge impact by righty after 9-3 win
Numbers show huge impact by righty after 9-3 win
