Braxton Ashcraft Shines Again in Pirates’ Win Over Tigers

PITTSBURGH, PA — The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the second game of their three-game homestand against the Detroit Tigers searching for answers after a disappointing game one, and they found just that. For the second straight start, right-hander Braxton Ashcraft was stellar, leading the Bucs to a 4-1 victory.

After a quick first four innings with little action, newly promoted outfielder Brett Callahan began the scoring with his first Major League homer, a deep drive over halfway up the Clemente Wall.

This matched what I saw during his swings in batting practice, as he hit some electric blasts, including multiple balls off the center field batter’s eye.

However, the Pirates immediately answered back. After Esmerlyn Valdez drew a leadoff walk, Oneil Cruz blasted a 422-foot homer to deep right-center field, his 15th of the season and his first since being activated off the injured list.

“Wow, great to have him back,” Manager Don Kelly said when asked what his thoughts were following the Cruz homer. “I thought he played great in center field too; he was aggressive going after that ball in right-center, and the homer was a huge answer after they just took the lead 1-0.”

Once he returned to the mound at the top of the sixth, it was smoother sailing yet again for Braxton Ashcraft. The 2026 All-Star only allowed two more baserunners the rest of the game, finishing with a final line of eight innings pitched, five hits, one earned run, no walks, and four strikeouts.

“Yeah, unbelievable,” Kelly said regarding Ashcraft’s outing. “The way he attacked the zone again with elite stuff… he threw the ball great.”

These last two electric starts from Ashcraft have truly come at the perfect time for the Pirates, as they look to make one final push to break their decade-long playoff drought.

Recapping Ashcraft’s Brilliant Night

When Ashcraft stepped off the PNC Park mound for the final time on the night of August 18th, he didn’t just have another tremendous outing, but he made Pirates history in the process.

Ashcraft became the first Pirates pitcher since 2012 to throw 17 or more innings between back-to-back contests, and he became the first Pirates starter since 1995 to walk one or fewer batters in two starts with these same parameters.

“Last week in Miami we needed a big start, and he went CG,” Manager Don Kelly said regarding Ashcraft’s last start. “But today, to go 8 innings and 80 pitches and just dominate today was really good.”

Of course, when doing so with such efficiency, the question will always be: Why not just let Ashcraft finish out the game?

“Really, really tough decision,” Kelly said when asked about the decision to pull Ashcraft after the eighth inning. “He’s already well past his innings limit, and we’re trying to conserve them, really tough to do when he’s throwing the ball that well.”

Arguably one of the most interesting aspects of this stretch from Ashcraft is that it comes after a poor July, where he pitched to a 7.78 ERA across four starts in the month. His ability to stay resilient and get back on track is an impressive trait that stands out amongst the rest.

“Last month I had a bad month,” Ashcraft said to the media after his start. “Just kind of reassess where I was at, what I was doing in between innings, and how my process was within that, and just try and do anything I can to force swing decisions, and when you do that you again elicit early contact and use your stuff to get the ball on the ground and induce weak contact.”

Weak contact is exactly what Ashcraft got in this game, as the Detroit Tigers posted an average exit velocity of just 85.3 MPH against him during this outing. Most notably, his sinker produced the most batted-ball events out of his five pitches, and it produced an average exit velocity of just 83.4 MPH.

Ashcraft’s sinker is a pitch that’s truly been a game-changer for him this season, as he runs into far less trouble when using the pitch more often. Before today’s outing, his sinker has produced a ground-ball rate of nearly 73%, placing him in the top 4.0% of the league.

With the pitch producing a barrel rate of 2.4%, he’s inducing soft contact and keeping it on the ground, where damage cannot be done as often.

Rather than letting the longest days of the season hold him down, Ashcraft has risen above and been the force the Pirates have needed as they inch closer and closer to the final NL Wild Card spot.

Oneil Cruz Shines in Return from IL

For any player returning from a long stint on the injured list, they hope to make an impact the moment they step out on the field. In Oneil Cruz’s case, he didn’t wait long to come through when his team needed him most, blasting his 15th home run of the season in his return to the lineup.

“It felt good, but it felt better just to have the victory as a team and go ahead at that moment,” Cruz said through his translator, Stephen Morales, when asked about how good it felt to go deep.

In Cruz’s case, the injury struck at a heartbreaking time, as he had begun to break out and turn into the hitter he was expected to be while in the minor leagues. Before going on the IL, Cruz had posted a 124 wRC+ while erasing his concerns with his previous struggles against lefties, helping elevate his game to the next level.

Now back in Pittsburgh, Cruz is ready to go yet again.

“It felt good just to be up here again and also down there when I was doing my rehab,” Cruz said. “I felt pretty good physically and mentally; we’re going to be okay.”

If Cruz can continue to play at the same level he did before the injury, his breakout season can pick up right where it left off earlier this year.