Pirates' Braxton Ashcraft: Makes abbreviated start Wednesday

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Ashcraft took a no-decision in his start during Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Dodgers, striking out four batters while allowing two hits and four walks over three scoreless frames.

After working at least five innings in each of his last three starts, Ashcraft tossed just 71 pitches before being lifted from Wednesday's contest. Ashcraft's early exit looks to have been a pre-planned arrangement; the right-hander has now totaled 103.2 innings between the majors and Triple-A Indianapolis this season, an increase of nearly 30 innings from what he covered during his time in the minors in 2024. The Pirates are also looking to manage the workload of one of their other young starters in Mike Burrows, who was moved to the bullpen last week and ended up tossing three innings in relief of Ashcraft on Wednesday. Though Ashcraft should continue to make starts for the Pirates, it wouldn't be surprising if he was deployed in tandem with Burrows in his future turns through the rotation.