85 pitches, 27 outs: Bucs' Ashcraft goes the distance

MIAMI -- Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft became just the third pitcher this season to throw a nine-inning complete game under 100 pitches on Thursday afternoon at loanDepot park. The 26-year-old allowed one run on three hits while needing just 85 pitches to record 27 outs in Pittsburgh's 13-1 victory.

“I kept telling myself, ‘It’s my game. I started it, I want to finish it,’” said Ashcraft, who faced one batter over the minimum. “[The] last three to six outs were the hardest outs to get.”

Ashcraft’s performance was the Pirates' first complete game of the season and the first of his career. It was also the Pirates' first complete-game performance in a win since Mitch Keller on May 6, 2024.

“Ash set the tone from the beginning,” manager Don Kelly said. “I thought the first inning was a little shaky compared to the rest. He seemed like in the second, he hit his groove and really just started filling up the zone with everything: fastball, offspeed, attack.”

• Triolo gets helping hand from Marsee on 2nd HR

The right-hander’s performance was particularly important to Kelly with the Pirates weathering a rough stretch. Pittsburgh entered the game a season-worst six games under .500 and six games out of a Wild Card spot after dropping 15 of its previous 20 games.

“It was good,” Ashcraft said. “We've been on a stretch where the bullpen's been a little bit banged up, [so] going in and being able to cover at least six and end up going to full nine ... was huge, not only for me.

“Yeah, it’s a career accomplishment, but it sets us up going into the next week pretty well.”

Ashcraft threw an impressive 64 strikes on 85 pitches (75%) and was on pace for a Maddux (complete-game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches) until the bottom of the ninth inning, when Owen Caissie hit a leadoff home run. Ashcraft struck out 10 batters and walked just one. The Waco, Texas, native holds a 3.88 ERA and leads Pittsburgh with 12 wins in his first full season as a starter in the big leagues, and he earned an All-Star nod this year.

Ashcraft credited his efficiency to getting comfortable in the zone, something he and catcher Rafael Flores Jr. established.

“Flo did a great job back there. Just in terms of presenting himself, presenting the target,” Ashcraft said. “He caught my bullpen maybe two weeks ago, and we had a discussion about the things that I like to see with him on the plate.”

The battery was still feeling things out against the first Marlins batter before settling into a rhythm, with Ashcraft crediting Flores’ ability to adjust during the game.

“That's somebody that hasn't played very many games in the big leagues, catching like a veteran,” Ashcraft said. “The work that I put in obviously allows me to do the things that I do on the mound. But it's called a battery for a reason. It's a joint effort between the pitcher and the catcher, and when you have somebody that instills confidence from pitch one, it's pretty fun.”

Flores -- playing in his 13th big league game this year and 20th overall -- shared that sentiment.

“He's nasty,” said Flores, who also threw out his first runner in the game. “He throws the most strikes in The Show. … The pace of play is unbelievable. I mean, he gets the ball. He wants to throw the next pitch right away. If he pitches like that, he's going to pitch for a long time. … It was awesome to be behind the plate.”

Ashcraft said the efficiency was the result of mechanical adjustments he identified during his last couple of outings. During Monday's offday, he worked off the mound and revisited some fundamentals with pitching coach Bill Murphy.

“With mechanical little nuances that you kind of tweak throughout the season,” Ashcraft said. “It's a long season, a lot of innings. ... My body feels great, and it’s just one of those things where you just kind of reconvene and start from scratch.

“[When] it's just you and the pitching coach and a catcher, it's really easy to kind of lock in and really identify some things.”

The defense behind him also helped Ashcraft stay aggressive. The Pirates turned three double plays, giving him confidence to continue attacking the zone.

“It's been like that all year,” Ashcraft said. “It's no secret that I throw a lot of strikes. I do that with confidence in the guys behind me. … They've given us that confidence in them all year, and you just come to expect it. Whenever the ball gets put on the ground, you just expect double plays.”

Ashcraft’s feat is just the third nine-inning complete game on 85 or fewer pitches since the start of 2015, joining Framber Valdez (May 30, 2025) and Kyle Hendricks (May 3, 2019). It’s the third by a Pirates starter since pitch counts were tracked (1988), after Jeff Karstens on July 15, 2011, (83 pitches at Houston) and Doug Drabek on Sept. 30, 1990, (80 at St. Louis).