Ashcraft’s Strong Start Backed by Offense as Pirates Take Series; Lowe Takes Walk in the Park

Braxton Ashcraft delivered seven-strong innings and Brandon Lowe hit an inside-the-park home run for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 6-2 rubber match win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Scoring Plays

Top 1st, 1-0 PIT: Brandon Lowe hit an inside-the-park home run to left field off Dustin May (4-4). The ball bounced off the very top of the fence towards left-center and away from left fielder José Fermin, allowing Lowe to score easily.

Bottom 3rd, 1-1: Iván Herrera hit a solo home run to left-center on a first-pitch slider from Braxton Ashcraft to tie the game.

Top 4th, 2-1 PIT: The Pirates (26-24) immediately took the lead back when Jake Mangum bounced into a fielder’s choice with runners on the corners and one out.

Top 6th, 4-1 PIT: After Spencer Horwitz walked and Konnor Griffin doubled to right, Marcell Ozuna ripped a two-run single to left field to pad the lead.

Top 7th, 6-1 PIT: Henry Davis led off the inning with a home run to left off Justin Bruihl. Later in the inning, Bryan Reynolds brought home Oneil Cruz on a groundout to short.

Bottom 8th, 6-2 PIT: Jordan Walker plated Herrera on a single to left field against reliever Wilber Dotel.

Key Moments

Marcell Ozuna’s two-run single in the sixth, which came on a 1-2 pitch, gave the Pirates enough breathing room.

The Cardinals (28-21) twice had the tying run on-deck against Wilber Dotel in the eighth inning but the rookie right-hander struck out Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn to end the threat.

Player of the Game

Braxton Ashcraft (3-2) tied a career-high with nine strikeouts across seven innings and held the Cardinals to one run. Ashcraft has worked into the seventh inning in each of his last four starts.

Stat to Know

Brandon Lowe’s inside-the-park home run was the first by a Pirate since Bryan Reynolds on May 21, 2022 (four years ago today), which was also came against the Cardinals but at PNC Park.

Notable Performances

Braxton Ashcraft: 7.0 innings, four hits, one run, two walk, nine strikeouts, 98 pitches/68 strikes

Brandon Lowe: 2 for 4, one home run, one RBI, one run, one walk

Henry Davis: 1 for 3, one home run, one RBI, one run, one HBP

Marcell Ozuna: 2 for 4, two RBI

Konnor Griffin: 1 for 4, one double, two runs, one steal

Noteworthy

The Pirates have won each of their first four road series against National League Central opponents for the first time since the division formed in 1994.

Braxton Ashcraft has a 1.97 ERA (7er/32ip) in five road starts this season.

Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double in the sixth inning. Spencer Horwitz extended his hit streak to six with a single in the fourth.

Henry Davis’ solo home run snapped an 0-for-16 slump at the plate.

Up Next

The Pirates head north of the border for the start of a weekend series with Toronto on Friday night. RHP Bubba Chandler (1-5, 5.14 ERA) will start for Pittsburgh. The Blue Jays will send out veteran RHP Kevin Gausman (3-3, 3.45 ERA). First pitch: 7:07 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLB Network/93.7 The Fan.

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Ashcraft’s Strong Start Backed by Offense as Pirates Take Series; Lowe Takes Walk in the Park

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