One year ago, on May 26, 2025, Braxton Ashcraft made his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashcraft shined for the Pirates as a rookie, and so far this season, has picked up where he left off, as he entered Tuesday’s start vs. the Chicago Cubs leading the club’s starters in ERA (2.89) and innings pitched (62 1/3).
Ashcraft delivered his fourth quality start over his last five outings, and the Pirates provided him ample run support in a 12-1 win in front of 13,950 fans at PNC Park.
Ashcraft (4-2, 2.75 ERA) pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with five strikeouts, no walks and two hit batters.
The Pirates (29-26) jumped on Cubs starter Jordan Wicks for five runs in the first inning and never looked back, dealing their NL Central foe a 10th consecutive defeat.
Oneil Cruz was 3 for 3 with an RBI, Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run homer in his fourth MLB game and Bryan Reynolds had two doubles and two RBIs.
The Pirates got on the board in the first inning courtesy of a two-run double by Reynolds.
Konnor Griffin, batting leadoff for the first time in his young career, walked, and Brandon Lowe advanced him to third with a hit before taking second thanks to an errant throw from center field by Pete Crow-Armstrong.
After Reynolds drove Griffin and Lowe home, Cruz rallied from an 0-2 count and snuck a ground ball out of the infield, allowing Reynolds to score easily and make it 3-0.
From there, the Pirates continued piling on against Wicks, who was making his 2026 debut. Valdez crushed a two-run homer 415 feet into the bullpen to make it 5-0.
The Cubs (29-26) responded as Alex Bregman led off the top of the second with a double, and Ian Happ hit another double, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
Valdez, whose parents and three brothers were in attendance Tuesday, made a stellar play in right field, gunning down Happ at third base when he tried to tag up following a Seiya Suzuki flyout.
Ashcraft then settled in, blanking the Cubs for the remainder of his appearance.
With one out in the fifth, Cruz misplayed a routine single to center field, allowing Carson Kelly to take second before Ashcraft hit Crow-Armstrong with a pitch.
But Ashcraft got out of the inning unscathed, recording strikeouts of Moises Ballesteros, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner.
The Pirates added three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Lowe ripped a single that blew past Suzuki at second base, and Reynolds followed with his second double of the evening.
With men on second and third with no outs, Nick Gonzales blooped a base hit into right field, putting the Pirates up 6-1.
After Wicks plunked Cruz to load the bases, he struck out Marcell Ozuna for the inning’s first out. Wicks was then replaced by Ryan Rolison, who walked Valdez, forcing in Reynolds from third as the Pirates took a 7-1 lead.
A Spencer Horwitz sacrifice fly to the center-field warning track made it 8-1.
Ashcraft faced a jam in the sixth, when Michael Busch walked, Happ got aboard on a throwing error by Henry Davis and Suzuki was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one out.
Once again, Ashcraft managed to come away unscathed, recording a forceout at home plate on a soft Ballesteros grounder. Kelly then followed with an inning-ending groundout to Lowe at second base.
In the bottom of the sixth, Griffin led off with a single, advanced to second on a Lowe groundout and scored when Bregman botched a throw to first base on a Reynolds ground ball.
Ozuna struck out with runners on the corners to end the inning, but the Pirates headed into the seventh with a 9-1 advantage.
When the Cubs put a pair of men on in the seventh, manager Don Kelly opted to pull Ashcraft, turning to Brandan Bidois from the bullpen.
Bidois did his part, and in the bottom of the seventh, Horwitz hit his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot over the Clemente Wall to make it 10-1.
The Pirates went up 12-1 in the eighth thanks to an RBI groundout by Jake Mangum and an RBI base hit by Ozuna.