Five days prior, Braxton Ashcraft stood in the same spot, surrounded by the same teammates and media contingent and had a similar tone in his voice. But that was about it in the way of similarities.
The individual results were night and day.
The team, too.
After opening this homestand with a frustrating, four-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates will leave PNC Park in a much better situation after sweeping the Reds, Ashcraft's stellar outing and Oneil Cruz's run-scoring single in the eighth paving the way for a 1-0 Pirates victory.
Ashcraft’s impressive rebound from his last start (4 1/3 innings, six earned runs) was just one of several important storylines.
"Regardless of whether you have success or failure, you always want to put the last one behind you," Ashcraft said. "If I carry good or bad outings into the next one, that’s not sustainable.
"I try to focus on the process and doing my job well, giving us a chance to win."
Ashcraft did that and a lot more, which was my first and biggest takeaway from this one.
'A real, real threat'
Ashcraft was simply terrific after a frustrating last start Tuesday, really the only dud we’ve seen from him thus far.
In the series finale against Cincinnati, the 26-year-old worked 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Ashcraft threw 82 pitches, 56 for strikes. He reminded everyone that he’s really, really good, dropping his season ERA to 3.02 and functioning as a model of efficiency.
“Everybody around here and across the league thinks really highly of this guy," Joey Bart said. “He’s a real, real threat to the league, and he’s showing everybody that."
Ashcraft threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the first 20 batters he faced, an incredible rate of 90%. A rare deviation occurred when Ashcraft issued a leadoff walk to shortstop Elly De La Cruz to open the seventh inning.
However, Ashcraft got third baseman Sal Stewart to hit into a double play, eliminating the minor threat.
Using primarily his curveball and four-seam fastball, Ashcraft worked up and down, in and out. A pitching clinic. It was the longest outing of his career, the longest for a Pirate this season, and it might've been cut short.
Yes, seriously. I'll explain.
"Held the velocity the whole time," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "Curveball was extremely good. He threw it for strikes. He got it for swing-and-miss. That's the best game that I've seen him pitch by far."
The decision
Kelly removed Ashcraft with two outs and two on in the eighth. His pitch count was low, but Ashcraft was facing the Reds lineup for a fourth time. With two lefties at the top, Kelly had to decide whether to play matchups or let Ashcraft keep going.
"Honestly, an extremely tough decision," Kelly said.
Ashcraft admitted he was a little angry, but he took a brief moment to get it out, then came back to the dugout to cheer on Gregory Soto.
It's also hard to fault Kelly given how well Soto has pitched this season: He's 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 17 games (17 innings), with six walks, 17 strikeouts, a .107 batting average against and 0.71 WHIP.
Left-on-left versus the fourth time through does make sense.
"If we jump out to an early lead and sustain that, it’s not a question that I stay in there," Ashcraft said. “But with runners on first and third, that’s a hard choice to make. That’s why I’m not the manager. All the trust in Soto coming in and shutting the door, then coming out in the ninth inning and closing the door again."
Good ABS day
Couple of impressive ABS moments in this one. Bryan Reynolds won two challenges, including one where he appeared to be clapping his bat along with the fans.
Even more impressive was Bart getting back-to-back strike calls reversed on second baseman Matt McLain in the eighth.
"The hardest one to call for [home-plate umpire Alan Porter] is a backup curveball up and in," Bart said. "It’s the hardest one to hit and the best pitch in the game.
“The first one landed there, I thought it was there. I think it was the same thing again, I ripped it again, and luckily we won the challenge.”
The offense
This was the polar opposite of Saturday's football score. It was a pitchers' duel, as Cincinnati's Chase Burns worked seven-plus shutout innings, walking one and striking out seven.
But with Burns out of the game, Konnor Griffin gave the Pirates life in the eighth.
He cracked a two-out double that looked like it might leave the park, connecting on a slurve low and inside from reliever Tony Santillan. Cruz followed by smashing a two-strike fastball above the zone into center field.
Terrific approach from Cruz, too. Not trying to hit a gigantic home run. Being OK with a single and driving a pitch he could hit.
"Just staying aggressive," Cruz said, with major league coach Stephen Morales translating. "The first couple pitches, I swung at a ball in the dirt. But after that I made my adjustments and stayed aggressive. Came through."
Soto, who relieved Ashcraft in the eighth, recorded the final four outs to earn the win. The Pirates improved to 19-16. They finished their 10-game run against NL Central teams 5-5 and are 9-7 overall against the division.
Griffin heating up
In the past 10 games, all since his birthday, Griffin has been incredible: .405 (15 for 37), five extra-base hits, eight RBIs, four walks, three steals and six runs.
It became a fun joke postgame, how much Griffin has matured since turning 20. Hey, maybe it was the bounce house. But it's more a really good baseball player starting to feel comfortable, trusting the tools that got him to this point.
Griffin has been making adjustments while relying plenty on his speed. We're starting to see more power, highlighted Sunday by his 406-foot double that came inches from clearing the fence.
"It’s been good to get settled in and feel like I have a home here in Pittsburgh," Griffin said. "Got a good locker room. Everybody supports you. I’m just glad to be out there every day working hard and getting to do what I love."
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.