Cardinals pull away late to beat Pirates; Ashcraft continues to wow as starter

This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com.

Braxton Ashcraft delivered another strong start for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it didn’t matter in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

How We Got There

Ashcraft held the Cardinals (66-69) to just one run on four hits with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitches. The lone blemish on his line came when Iván Herrera hit a game-tying RBI double in the third.

The Pirates (59-76) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Tommy Pham connected on a 440-foot home run to left field, his eighth of the season. Later in the inning, the Pirates came up empty with two in scoring position and one out.

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