Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft dominated the St. Louis Cardinals lineup on Thursday, leading his team to a 6-2 victory at Busch Stadium.
The win clinched the away series for the Pirates.
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Ashcraft limited St. Louis to just four hits and one run while racking up nine strikeouts over seven complete innings.
The Cardinals' offensive struggles continued, with a sinking on-base percentage and a persistent lack of power hitting.
Pirates Take Early Lead
The game began as a pitcher's duel between Ashcraft and Cardinals right-hander Dustin May.
Pittsburgh opened the scoring when Brandon Lowe hit a solo home run off the base of the foul pole, officially ruled out-of-the-park by the umpires.
St. Louis responded in the third inning when Ivan Herrera broke out of an extended slump with a solo home run to tie the game 1-1.
The Pirates used small ball to retake the lead in the fourth, manufacturing a run through a single, a forced out, a stolen base, and another single.
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Pittsburgh Pulls Away
May encountered trouble in the sixth inning after reaching approximately 80 pitches.
He issued a walk before surrendering a double, a two-run single to Marcell Ozuna, and a single to Vance Mangum.
The Cardinals starter was pulled after allowing four runs across 5.1 innings.
Reliever Gordon Graceffo induced a double play on his first pitch to end the frame.
Pittsburgh extended their lead to 6-1 in the seventh when Henry Davis hit a home run on the first pitch from reliever Justin Bruihl, followed by an Oneil Cruz double, a Lowe single, and an RBI hit from Bryan Reynolds.
St. Louis cut the deficit in the eighth on an RBI single by Jordan Walker, but relief pitcher Mason Montgomery closed out the ninth to secure the four-run win.
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The Pirates outscored St. Louis 13-2 across the final two games of the series.
