For the second straight game, the Pittsburgh Pirates got about as complete of an effort as possible against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Strong starting pitching, plenty of offense and a dependable performance by the bullpen propelled the club to a 6-2 win and series victory at Busch Stadium.
Braxton Ashcraft (3-2, 2.89 ERA) tied a career-high with nine strikeouts, lasting seven innings. He allowed one run on four hits, walked two and threw 68 of his 98 pitches for strikes.
Brandon Lowe and Henry Davis hit homers, while Marcell Ozuna (2 for 4) collected a pair of RBIs for the Pirates (26-24).
Once Ashcraft departed, Wilber Dotel pitched the eighth and Mason Montgomery shut things down in the ninth.
Things began on a positive note for the Pirates, as Lowe made it 1-0 in the first inning with an inside-the-park home run, his 13th in total on the year, off St. Louis (28-21) starter Dustin May.
The ball ricocheted off the top of the left field wall and Jose Fermin’s glove inches from the foul pole, allowing Lowe to hustle around the bases.
Ashcraft looked good early, recording four strikeouts, but Ivan Herrera connected on a slider with two outs in the bottom of the third, tying the game with a solo homer to center field.
Alec Burleson doubled after that, but Ashcraft struck out Jordan Walker to end the inning.
The Pirates took the lead right back in the second, courtesy of an RBI force out hit into by Jake Mangum, which allowed Konnor Griffin to score from third.
Griffin himself had hit into a force out, erasing Spencer Horwitz’s leadoff single, then advanced to third on a base hit by Ozuna.
Ashcraft was sharp in the fourth and fifth, and in the sixth, the Pirates gave him a 4-1 lead.
After Horwitz walked, Griffin ripped a double over the head of Walker in right field, putting men on second and third for Ozuna.
With the infield drawn in, Ozuna snuck a ground ball into left field to clear the bags, scoring a pair.
Following a Mangum single with one out in the sixth, May’s day ended.
Cardinals reliever Gordon Graceffo promptly got out of a jam upon taking over, though, as Jared Triolo grounded into a frame-ending double play.
Ashcraft needed just nine pitches to get through the bottom of the sixth, striking out a pair in the process, to match his career-high of nine on the day.
Davis made it 5-1 Pirates in the seventh, jacking the first pitch he saw from Justin Bruihl for a line drive solo shot, his third home run of the year, to snap an 0 for 16 hitless streak.
Cruz then got aboard with a double and moved to third courtesy of a Lowe single.
With runners on the corners and zero outs, the Pirates continued piling it on, taking a 6-1 lead via a Bryan Reynolds RBI groundout, scoring Cruz.
In the seventh, Ashcraft got two quick outs before Pedro Pages singled. Manager Don Kelly left Ashcraft in to get through the inning and he did so swiftly, getting Victor Scott to fly out.
Dotel, making his debut appearance after being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday, allowed three hits and a run in the eighth, as the Cardinals cut the deficit to 6-2.
Montgomery came on in the ninth and ended the game with a double play.