Only three pitchers this season have thrown a nine-inning complete game under 100 pitches and Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft is now one of them. 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 at loanDepot park vs the Miami Marlins.
The last Pirate pitcher to throw a complete game victory was Mitch Keller on May 6, 2024. This is also the first complete game of the season for any Pirate pitcher.
This is the first complete game of Ashcraft’s career. The right hander is now 12-5 on the season with a 3.88 ERA. This fantastic performance is an addition to what has been a really good season for the All-Star pitcher.
Pittsburgh has really been a downfall as of late and 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. This dominant win and brilliant pitching performance is hopefully a start of a strong playoff push.
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 in the blowout 12 run victory.
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).
The Pirates are going to need a lot more pitching performances like this if they want to get back into the playoff push and to be considered a legitimate playoff team.