Oneil Cruz hit yet another impressive home run and Braxton Ashcraft returned to his home state and led the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field.
Top 1st, 1-0 PIT: For the second straight game, the Pirates (14-10) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Bryan Reynolds doubled off Jack Leiter with two outs and scored on a Marcell Ozuna base hit to left.
Bottom 2nd, 2-1 TEX: Josh Jung hit a two-run opposite field home run off Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft to give the Rangers (12-12) the lead.
Top 5th, 4-2 PIT: Brandon Lowe evened the score with a two-out RBI single off Leiter. The Pirates then reclaimed the lead when Bryan Reynolds plated Henry Davis with base hit to right and Lowe came around to score on Brandon Nimmo’s throwing error.
Bottom 8th, 4-4: With two in scoring position and two outs, Jake Burger hit a game-tying two-run single off Pirates reliever Gregory Soto (1-1).
Top 9th, 8-4 PIT: With runners on the corners and one out, Jake Mangum hit a tapper to third base and Nick Gonzales beat a throw home. After the Rangers brought in Jalen Beeks, Oneil Cruz hit a towering three-run home run off the very top of the foul pole. Cole Winn (1-1), who was on the mound at the beginning of the inning, took the loss for Texas.
Even Cruz homers are bigger in Texas ‼️ pic.twitter.com/d7RvGHbkwE
Jake Mangum put the Pirates ahead right after they blew the lead in the bottom of the eighth and set the stage for Oneil Cruz’s unbelievable home run.
Braxton Ashcraft, who attended Robinson High School, located approximately 110 miles south of Globe Life Field, threw a career-high seven innings and a career-high 94 pitches.
Bryan Reynolds collected his 500th career RBI with a run-scoring single in the fifth. He’s tied with Bobby Bonilla for the most among switch-hitters in Pirates history and is the 23rd Pirate (since RBI became an official statistic in 1920) to record at least 500 RBI with the franchise.
Braxton Ashcraft: 7.0 innings, four hits, two runs, two walks, five strikeouts
Oneil Cruz: 1 for 5, one home run, three RBI, one run
Bryan Reynolds: 2 for 5, one double, one RBI, one run
Oneil Cruz is the first Pirates player ever to have 20-plus RBI and 10-plus steals through the team’s first 25 games of the season.
Josh Jung’s home run was the first surrendered by Braxton Ashcraft this season and the first he allowed since last year on Sep. 15 against the Chicago Cubs (Michael Busch).
The Pirates have not lost back-to-back games since losing their first two games of the season to the Mets in New York.
RHP Bubba Chandler (1-1, 3.15 ERA) will look to lead the Pirates to a series win on Thursday night. RHP Jacob deGrom (1-0, 2.29 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rangers. First pitch: 8:05 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/100.1 FM & AM 1020.
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