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 an ability to spin the ball. Ashcraft also knows how to pitch and helped himself by throwing plenty of strikes. His performance rivaled that of the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner.
Facing the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, much of what led to Ashcraft’s strong start 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.
To their credit, the Pirates 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.
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 connected on an inside four-seamer to open the second inning, driving it 413 feet out to right. Center fielder Victor Scott II followed with a similar shot, only this time he crushed a hanging, two-strike curveball.
Scott’s ball bounced in the water, the 85th time that has happened (done by 53 players). His homer traveled 415 feet at 105.4 mph.
That was a mistake pitch from Ashcraft and so was this: an elevated sinker right fielder Jordan Walker smoked into left at 109.1 mph for a 3-0 lead in the third.
The Cardinals added on with three more runs in the fifth, as Ashcraft walked the first two batters of the frame. First baseman Alec Burleson followed by hitting a curveball left up 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.
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.
After Pittsburgh’s offense was quiet through five innings against Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy, Oneil Cruz gave the Pirates some life with his ninth homer of the season in the sixth.
Cruz, ahead 2-0 in the count, pummeled a middle-away fastball and sent it flying to center field for his ninth of the season. That 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 another home run, 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.
It was 6-3 after six, but St. Louis responded with three runs in the seventh to add some key insurance, then tacked on two more in the eighth.
Walker singled home designated hitter Ivan Herrera on a meaty fastball and shortstop Masyn Winn pouncing on another elevated hitter. In between, Gorman’s groundout also scored a run.
In the eighth, O’Hearn lined another elevated 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 bring the Pirates to within 11-6.
Griffin's long ball gave the Pirates five players with multiple hits. But on this night, the starting pitching didn't hold up its end of the bargain.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.