Braxton Ashcraft Makes Pirates History With Dominant Start vs. Mariners
· Yahoo Sports
PITTSBURGH — Only one Pirates pitcher in the Modern Era has had two games of double-digit strikeouts and no walks in the same season. That would be Braxton Ashcraft, who has had two such outings within a four-week stretch.
Ashcraft struck out a career-high 11 and didn’t walk a batter on May 31 against the Twins at PNC Park. On Wednesday night against the Mariners, Ashcraft struck out 10 without issuing a free pass in Pittsburgh’s resounding 11-1 win.
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“I think it starts with first pitch strikes,” Ashcraft said after hearing of the feat. “Just getting ahead, staying there and putting guys away.”
Ashcraft ran into some trouble in the first inning when the first three batters of the game all singled to put the Mariners ahead 1-0. A deep drive to right field Randy Arozarena was nearly a three-run home run but just missed the foul pole, and the Pirates starter ended up striking out the Mariners left fielder before retiring Dominic Canzone to end the inning.
After the first, Ashcraft held Seattle scoreless over the final five innings of his outing. He retired each of the final 10 batters he faced.
“He’s been really good for us and was again tonight,” said manager Don Kelly. “The way he was able to settle in after the first three guys get on, there was a run in, just a credit to him on being able to slow things down and do what he was able to do. He threw a ton of strikes, got 10 punchouts, was efficient. Only (86) pitches through six innings. He pitched great.”
The only other times Ashcraft was in any danger was when he worked around a one-out double in the second and a two-out double the following inning. But following Julio Rodríguez’s RBI single in the first, the Mariners went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
It’s an area in which Ashcraft has thrived. On the year, opponents are hitting just .127 (9 for 71) with runners on second and/or third base against him.
The offense came through for Ashcraft with a big five-run fourth inning before tacking on plenty more after he left the game. The right-hander did his part to ensure the Mariners had no chance of mounting a comeback.
“I think that whenever you have long innings like that, when we put up a bunch of runs, it’s super important to go out and put up a zero and put up a fast zero,” he explained. “Be in the zone and get guys out of the box and get us back in the dugout so that we can continue that being that group and carrying that momentum.”
Ashcraft relied a lot on his curveball, a pitch he threw 34% of the time, and one he got eight whiffs on 15 swings, while also mixing in his slider 24% of the time.
“Just being able to get ahead with different stuff. Not necessarily just auto-throwing fastballs down the middle, 0-0. They’re major league hitters and major league hitters can hit those pitches,” Ashcraft explained. “So just being able to mix and throw everything for a strike, I think that’s the biggest thing”
After his latest start, Ashcraft lowered his season ERA to 3.07. He’s up to 107 strikeouts on the year, which are tied with teammate Paul Skenes for the seventh-most in MLB.
The 26-year-old continues to emerge as a legitimate top-of-the-rotation arm alongside Skenes, giving the Pirates one of the top 1-2 punches in baseball.
His latest feat is yet another sign of that.
The post Braxton Ashcraft Makes Pirates History With Dominant Start vs. Mariners appeared first on Pittsburgh Baseball Now.