Detroit Tigers at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Detroit Tigers

61-65, 29-34 Away

Final
1 - 4

Pittsburgh Pirates

62-66, 33-32 Home

Braxton Ashcraft works 8 efficient innings, Oneil Cruz homers as Pirates top Tigers 4-1

Detroit Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Game Highlights

Ashcraft (13-5), a first-time All-Star this season, struck out four and didn't issue a walk while throwing just 80 pitches. The 26-year-old right-hander, coming off the first complete game of his career in a win over Miami last week, gave up a fifth-inning homer to Tigers rookie Brett Callahan but otherwise cruised to his fourth win in five starts.

Ashcraft became the first Pittsburgh pitcher since A.J. Burnett in 2012 to record a complete game and then work at least eight innings in his next start.

Mason Montgomery worked the ninth for his fifth save.

Cruz, out since early June after breaking his left hand, turned on a 2-2 knuckle curve from Keider Montero (9-8) in the fifth inning and sent it 422 feet to right-center for his 15th homer of the season and his first since June 2. It was Pittsburgh's 81st homer at PNC Park, tying the 2003 team for the most in a season at the ballpark that opened in 2001.

Spencer Horwitz and Bryan Reynolds added RBI singles for the Pirates, who have won four of six.

Detroit, in a tight race with a handful of clubs for the final AL wild-card spot, has lost four of five.

Montero was perfect through four innings but walked Esmeryln Valez on four pitches leading off the fifth before Cruz's homer. Montero surrendered three runs on four hits in five innings.

Up next The series concludes on Wednesday. Struggling ace Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.88 ERA), working on a week's rest, starts for Pittsburgh against Detroit's Jackson Jobe (1-1, 6.23).

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How can I watch Detroit Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Tigers at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Lee grounded out to second.
	9th Inning	McGonigle to second on fielder's indifference.
	9th Inning	Lee hit for McKinstry
	9th Inning	Valencia struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Dingler struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Dingler hit for Keith

Statistics

DET		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	1
17	Ground Balls	18
6	Strikeouts	5
1	Runs Batted In	4
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
5	Hits	6
0	Stolen Bases	0
0	Walks	1
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	4
1	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
32	At Bats	29
1	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
10	Runners Left On Base	9
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	1
9	Fly Balls	6
0	Caught Stealing	0
95	Pitches	118
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
8	Total Bases	10
32	Plate Appearances	31
162.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
1	Extra Base Hits	2
0.3	Runs Created	2.3
.156	Batting Average	.207
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.250	Slugging Percentage	.345
.094	Secondary Average	.172
.156	On Base Percentage	.258
.406	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.603
1.9	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	3.0
0.3	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	2.5
12.0	Batter Rating	27.0
32.0	At Bats Per Home Run	29.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
2.97	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.81
.094	Isolated Power	.138
0.00	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.20
.000	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.032
-.063	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.034
2.0	Runs Produced	8.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.2
65.8	MLB Rating	76.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0