Ashcraft (10-4) earned the win Sunday against the Cubs, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five.
Ashcraft hardly pitched well enough to deserve the win Sunday, but he received plenty of run support while Pittsburgh jumped out to an early 7-1 lead. The right-hander had a strong 2.77 ERA for the season through the month of May but has struggled mightily overall since the beginning of June, posting a 6.04 ERA and 1.43 WHIP over his last 47.2 innings (nine starts). Ashcraft is set to take a 4.05 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 135:30 K:BB across 122.1 frames into his next scheduled outing in Cincinnati.