Ashcraft’s latest dominant outing made history and featured an intriguing assist

Three batters into Wednesday’s game, this hardly looked like the latest gem for Braxton Ashcraft. Three singles allowed. Two that sizzled at least 103 mph off the bat. An early deficit for the Pirates.

But if we’ve learned anything about Ashcraft this season, it’s centered around the idea of trust.

Trust that he’ll figure it out — which he certainly did en route to an 11-1 Pirates rout of the Mariners at PNC Park.

Trust that he’ll find a plan, fill up the zone, remain efficient and do pretty much everything you’d expect from an ace, a primary reason why Ashcraft and his 3.07 ERA should be headed to Philadelphia in July for the MLB All-Star Game.

“He’s been really good for us and was again [Wednesday],” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “The way he was able to settle in after the first three guys got on, credit to him being able to slow things down and do what he was able to do.

“Threw a ton of strikes. Got a ton of punchouts. Was efficient. Only 86 pitches through six innings. He pitched great.”

It simply doesn’t get old watching Ashcraft pitch. Maybe because he’s not afraid to go after hitters and tends to work fast.

In this one, Ashcraft struck out 10 — the second-highest strikeout total of his career — and didn’t walk a batter. In the process, he became the first Pirates pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900) to have multiple starts with at least 10 strikeouts and zero walks in a season after walking none and striking out 11 May 31 against the Twins.

Ashcraft’s masterpiece against the Mariners gets better, too.

Along with the impressive efficiency, Ashcraft racked up 15 whiffs. He also threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 23 and fired 68 strikes. For those scoring at home, Ashcraft’s 79.1% strike percentage represented a career-best.

“I think it starts with first-pitch strikes,” Ashcraft said. “Just getting ahead, staying ahead and putting guys away. Obviously the first inning didn’t go how we wanted.

“Couple early hits in the count. Identified the plan. Was able to pitch to it and carried that through the rest of the game.”

Wednesday represented the 10th quality start this season for Ashcraft, most on the Pirates staff and tied with Shohei Ohtani across MLB. Only four pitchers in either league have more.

Ashcraft’s record improved to 7-3. He’s actually now tied with Paul Skenes, each having 107 strikeouts, though Ashcraft said clearing the century mark didn’t mean much to him. The proud Texas native has bigger fish to (catch and) fry.

“First full year in the big leagues, being able to eclipse 100 strikeouts, it’s really cool,” Ashcraft said. “But ultimately the biggest priority here is winning. Being able to go out and put us in a position to do that, it means a lot.”

Don’t dare take what Ashcraft has been doing for granted.

Especially because it looked like he might’ve been in for a long night early when Julio Rodríguez ripped a first-pitch sinker to left at 109.2 mph.

But shortly thereafter, Ashcraft credited Endy Rodríguez with smartly reading swings and adjusting the game plan accordingly. That meant a slightly smaller dose of sinkers and increasing the use of Ashcraft’s curveball, plus occasionally flipping around the order.

The curveball was especially nasty for Ashcraft, finishing six of his strikeouts and notching eight whiffs.

“That’s kind of what the game told us that we had,” Ashcraft said. “Endy did a really good job of recognizing that. The more I throw that pitch, the better it feels, the better feel I have for it. When you have something working, you kind of lean on it. That’s what we did.”

I love how simple Ashcraft makes pitching — even though it’s not. It reminds me a little of Ray Miller’s famous line: “Work fast, change speeds, throw strikes.”

Ashcraft does that, relying on what has metrically become the third-best curveball in MLB. Only Ben Brown of the Cubs and Scott Barlow of the Athletics have better benders, per Baseball Savant’s run value.

Opponents are hitting just .123 against the pitch and whiffing 40.1% of the time.

“His velocity and breaking balls, it was amazing,” Rodríguez said. “The way he executed, really good.”

Especially after that first inning, too. Ashcraft struck out Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena swinging to get back on track. He stranded doubles in the second and third before really finding his groove after the turn of his outing.

By then, the curveball-heavy plan was established. Ashcraft struck out Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley to open the fourth, the first of those with Canzone’s helmet popping off. Ashcraft finished strong, retiring 10 in a row to close. The final one, Arozarena, was so ugly that his bat went sailing hilariously to shortstop.

Of course, Ashcraft wanted no credit for any of it.

“It’s a testament to Endy being able to recognize stuff — hitters’ plans, deficiencies in their swing on a given day or in a given at-bat,” Ashcraft said. “I put a lot of trust in him to put me in a good situation, with the right pitch selection.

“Being able to be in the zone, attack guys with my best stuff and remain confident that we’re on the same page, it’s a blessing.”

Fair point. But what the Pirates have in Ashcraft has become an even bigger blessing.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.