Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft is now just the third pitcher in baseball this season to pitch a nine-inning complete game under 100 pitches. The 26-year-old allowed one run on three hits Thursday afternoon at loanDepot park in Miami while needing only 85 pitches to deliver 27 outs.
Ashcraft’s performance was the Pirates' first complete game of the season and the first of his career, as Pittsburgh dominated Miami in a 13-1 victory. It was also the Pirates' first complete-game performance in a win since Mitch Keller on May 6, 2024.
Ashcraft threw an impressive 64 strikes on 85 pitches (75%) and was on pace for a Maddux (complete-game shutout under 100 pitches) until the bottom of the ninth inning, when Owen Caissie delivered a solo home run. He struck out 10 batters while walking only one. The Waco, Texas, native holds a 3.88 ERA in his first season as a starter in the big leagues, earning an All-Star nod this season.
Ashcraft’s feat is also 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, and Doug Drabek on Sept. 30, 1990.