Takeaways: Braxton Ashcraft not happy with lack of execution against Cardinals

In a starting rotation led by Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft spent the first month of this season turning heads and making a name for himself.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander mixed premium velocity with deadly spin. Ashcraft also knows how to pitch and helped himself by throwing strikes. His performance rivaled that of the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner.

But facing the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, much of what led to Ashcraft’s uprising went missing. Instead, he endured his worst start of the season, and it led to a 11-7 Pirates loss at PNC Park, the team’s third in a row.

Ashcraft failed to complete five innings for the first time in 2026. He also walked three and gave up two home runs, leaving several pitches up in the zone that St. Louis hitters turned into runs.

“The execution of pitches, especially two-strike pitches, it has to be better.,” Ashcraft said. “That’s what got me in trouble [Tuesday].”

To their credit, the Pirates (16-14, 6-5 vs. NL Central) didn’t go down without a fight. They scored three times in the sixth and added another three-spot in the eighth. Konnor Griffin even hit his second MLB homer in the ninth.

But the damage was too much to overcome.

Every Cardinals starter had a hit. The third, fourth and fifth hitters in their lineup combined for nine RBIs. The first three hitters scored eight runs.

The Pirates also got plenty of offense, as Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn and Griffin homered. They were among five players with multiple hits. It should be enough to win most games, but the starting pitching didn’t hold up its end of the bargain.

“To get down real big early on, I was proud of the way this team continues to fight,” Ashcraft said. “It’s encouraging and exciting to be a part of. But I have to be better.”

What plagued Ashcraft

Ashcraft had allowed only one home run in five starts this season prior to Tuesday, but that’s how the Cardinals struck early against him.

Third baseman Nolan Gorman ambushed an inside four-seamer to open the second. Center fielder Victor Scott II followed, only this time he crushed a hanging, two-strike curveball.

That was an obvious mistake from Ashcraft and so was the elevated sinker right fielder Jordan Walker smoked into left at 109.1 mph for a 3-0 lead in the third.

“I’m not really mad about the fastball to Gorman,” Ashcraft said. “The two-strike curveball, that sucks. In general, the execution has to be better.”

The Cardinals added three more runs in the fifth, as Ashcraft walked the first two batters of the frame. First baseman Alec Burleson followed by hitting an elevated curveball into the North Shore Notch to make it a 4-0 game. Walker and Gorman added sacrifice flies to extend St. Louis’ lead to 6-0.

Barco’s late arrival

Ashcraft was charged with six runs, two shy of the combined total from his previous five starts. He was relieved by Hunter Barco, who was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis and arrived at PNC Park not long before first pitch.

Barco, a young lefty who struggled out of the bullpen earlier this year, could not prevent the Cardinals from making another push after the Pirates began to threaten.

He would allow three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. It was a tough travel day for Barco, who woke up in Memphis, Tenn., was delayed in the Atlanta airport for five or six hours and didn’t land in Pittsburgh until 6:15 p.m.

It wasn’t ideal, but Barco – who allowed five earned runs over 4 2/3 innings – didn’t do his job as well as he would have liked.

“I competed, but at the end of the day, it’s about not giving up runs,” Barco said. “Got to be better and do whatever I can to help the team. [Tuesday], I didn’t do that.”

Offense responds

After Pittsburgh’s offense was quiet through five innings against Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy, Cruz gave the Pirates life with his ninth homer of the season in the sixth.

Ahead 2-0, Cruz pummeled a middle-away fastball and sent it flying to center field. It represented the 24th RBI of the season for Cruz, who’s one of just four Pirates since RBI became an official stat in 1920 to have 24 or more in March and April.

Another Pirate who has enjoyed a strong start at the plate, Ryan O’Hearn, cut the deficit to three with his homer, this one a two-run shot to right-center. O’Hearn jumped on a sinker that was elevated and flashed plenty of power against Leahy.

In the eighth, O’Hearn lined another high pitch (a sweeper) to right for a one-run single. Nick Gonzales, who earlier extended his hitting streak to nine games, tacked on a two-run single to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 11-6.

Griffin's long ball gave the Pirates five players with multiple hits. The rookie has multiple hits in three of his past five. But as the Pirates tied their season-high in runs allowed, it didn’t matter.

“I’m really proud of the way the guys battled,” Ashcraft said. “Hunter coming in and covering the rest of that game was huge. Sucks that I put them in that situation, with a game like [Monday], using a lot of arms; it’s imperative that we as starters pick the rest of the team up. I let everybody down in that aspect [Tuesday].”

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