PIRATES

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Braxton Ashcraft throws a pitch in the first inning of Thursday's game at Busch Stadium.

Every fifth day, Braxton Ashcraft approaches his starts with a mindset focused on earning each and every opportunity he gets. He's done that on plenty of occasions with his efficiency this season, earning chances to go deeper into games, and he once again did it in providing seven innings of one-run ball in the Pirates' 6-2 win over the Cardinals here today at Busch Stadium. 

"That’s been my goal as a starting pitcher," Ashcraft said. "Going deep in games, allowing myself to earn the next inning. A lot of that starts with throwing a lot of strikes, suffocating the strike zone. But also just making pitches. Making pitches with two strikes. Henry (Davis) does a good job of instilling confidence to be able to do that. Joey (Bart) does as well. Now Endy (Rodriguez) is here. They’re all great to throw to. It’s easy to throw the ball in-zone and more or less pitch to contact whenever you know you have a stellar defense behind you."

Ashcraft threw 68 of 98 pitches for strikes and scattered four hits, including a third-inning homer by Ivan Herrera, with two walks and nine strikeouts en route to improving to 3-2 and lowering his season ERA to 2.89, a top-20 figure among pitchers in Major League Baseball. He generated 12 whiffs, including five with his slider and three with his fastball, and did a commendable job of mixing in a steady amount of curveballs and sinkers to keep hitters off balance. 

"Throwing anything in any count and pitching inside has been a big thing for him," Don Kelly said. "Being able to get guys off the plate and own the inside part. Then it opens up the offspeed and for him to be able to go to different pitches in different counts.” 

Ashcraft has now produced five outings of at least 6 2/3 innings this season, the most of any pitcher in MLB. Four of those starts have lasted seven or more innings and three have been produced this month alone. Over his 10 starts this season, Ashcraft is now up to 62 1/3 innings pitched, the fourth-highest total in Major League Baseball. 

Over the course of a professional career that began back in 2018, Ashcraft has never pitched more than 118 innings in a season. He did that last year between Class AAA Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Prior to that, he had never thrown more than 73 innings in a single season. 

At this point, Ashcraft is going to blow past that 118-inning total, and while it's very possible that there could be limitations in future starts, he's certainly earning every opportunity to pile up the innings at the moment. 

"Going deep into games is our job as starting pitchers," Ashcraft said. "To be able to do that consistently has been a blessing."