SAN FRANCISCO — Despite the Pirates amassing just two runs Friday, Don Kelly didn’t get down. Instead, he insisted several times that he liked his hitters’ approach.
A day later, those comments from Pittsburgh’s manager felt prescient.
The Pirates employed a similar approach Saturday, wore out Giants starter Landen Roupp and eventually knocked around San Francisco’s bullpen en route to a 13-3 win, evening this series at a game apiece.
Braxton Ashcraft threw seven innings of one-run ball, and it almost felt like an afterthought given the offensive explosion we witnessed:
• The Pirates totaled 20 hits, their most in a nine-inning game this decade.
• Every starter had at least one.
• Six starters recorded an RBI, while seven scored a run.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the fifth and sixth before racking up a half-dozen runs in the seventh. Things got so ugly that Giants infielder Christian Koss worked the ninth, as the Pirates improved to 22-18.
"All night I thought we had good at-bats," Kelly said.
Joey Bart and Nick Gonzales led the way with four hits apiece. Bart also had two RBIs and scored three runs. Oneil Cruz had three hits and scored three runs. Brandon Lowe doubled and tripled and racked up four RBIs. He’s tied for 12th in that category across MLB.
Amazingly, the Pirates did not have a home run.
As for the grinding, the Pirates chewed through 232 pitches, their most in a dozen years.
"We’ve been a super resilient team all year," Bart said. "[Friday] was a tough one. We bounced back [Saturday]."
Pittsburgh broke a stalemate through four with back-to-back singles to open the fifth inning, including a rare infield single from Bart. With former Pirate Ryan Borucki in the game, Lowe pushed his team in front, 1-0, with a sacrifice fly.
Bryan Reynolds extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-0 with a single through the left side before the Giants responded with designated hitter Bryce Eldridge’s solo home run in the fifth.
Though Roupp registered a career-high eight strikeouts, he needed 94 pitches to do it. Once the Pirates got into the Giants’ bullpen, they kept pressing for more offense.
"Any time you can get into the 90s after four ... I thought the approach was awesome," Kelly said.
After those two runs in the fifth, the Pirates struck for two more in the sixth thanks to run-scoring from Konnor Griffin and Bart.
By the time the seventh inning arrived, the Pirates were really making like difficult for the Giants — although San Francisco had issues making routine plays, extending the inning.
Spencer Horwitz knocked in a run with his double to make it 5-1 before Griffin brought home another via sacrifice fly. Bart reached out and poked a sinker into left for another run.
Lowe delivered the big hit when he tripled for the first time since Sept. 11, 2024, plating two runs to increase Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-1. Excellent swing, too, as Lowe smashed a slider at the bottom of the zone.
Ryan O'Hearn knocked in the sixth run of the inning with his comebacker that pitcher Gregory Santos was unable to field.
A-plus from Ashcraft
While the Pirates scored more than enough runs for a comfortable win, Ashcraft's efforts should not go unnoticed.
Aside from a solo home run that really wasn’t hit fault, Ashcraft scattered five singles, walked none and struck out six. As for the homer, it came on a pitch to Eldridge that was out of the zone.
Ashcraft needed just 80 pitches (62 strikes) to cover seven innings before giving way to Evan Sisk, in the process reducing his ERA to 2.77.
"He’s been consistent, filling the zone up with strikes and getting after guys," Bart said. "Really good night for him. Really easy night."
Instead of featuring his curveball, Ashcraft threw his slider (34%) than anything else. Ashcraft used his four-seam fastball 33% of the time and his curveball 128%. It certainly worked, as the Giants whiffed 12 times and didn’t produce much hard contact.
Ashcraft has now gone at least seven innings in back-to-back starts and three times in his past four outings.
"That’s the beauty of having multiple pitches," Ashcraft said. "I take pride in the fact that I throw a lot of strikes. That’s a big thing. Get guys out of the box early and go deep in games."
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Gonzales had been 0 for 11 over his previous four, raising minor questions about the validity of his start. But he put those to rest with an outstanding effort.
"When I’m in a good spot, I’m able to get my best swing off and be on time," Gonzales said. "That’s what was lacking the past few days."
Gonzales is now hitting .323, ninth in MLB and seventh in the National League.
Meanwhile, Bart started for the fifth time in six games and may be changing how the Pirates deploy their catchers. Bart entered the game having hit safely in seven of his past 10 starts (.273).
This marks just the seventh time since 1990 the Pirates have won 22 of their first 40 games, the last one coming in 2018. Their average win total in those six seasons: 90.5.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.