Braxton Ashcraft, Oneil Cruz's mammoth homer lead Pirates to win against Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas - For the first time in his career as a starting pitcher, Braxton Ashcraft completed seven innings. And he picked one heck of a time to do it.
Ashcraft, pitching professionally in his home state of Texas for the first time, allowed two runs in seven innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 8-4 win against the Texas Rangers Wednesday night at Globe Life Field. Ashcraft gave up four hits and two walks and struck out five, throwing a career-high 94 pitches.
Even with the stellar outing, Ashcraft didn't earn a win. Gregory Soto allowed a game-tying two-run single to Jake Burger in the eighth, but Jake Mangum's pinch-hit fielder's choice and Oneil Cruz's 3-run homer, a blast that quite literally bounced off the top of the right-field foul pole, put the game away.
Cruz had gone 0 for 4 with three strikeouts before the homer, then obliterated an 0-1 cutter former Pirate Jalen Beeks left directly down the middle. The ball, which traveled an estimated 422 feet, had an exit velocity of 116.9 mph.
Like Tuesday, the Pirates opened the scoring in the first. Bryan Reynolds had a two-out double off Rangers starter Jake Leiter, then scored on Marcell Ozuna's single to right.
The Rangers took the lead in the second, the lone mark against Ashcraft. Ashcraft started the inning by walking Joc Pederson, then right-handed Josh Jung hit an opposite field homer down the right-field line to give the Rangers the lead.
But unlike Tuesday, the Pirates were the team that broke the game open with a three-run fifth. Brandon Lowe singled in Spencer Horwitz, then Reynolds drove in Henry Davis for the 500th RBI of his career. Right fielder Brandon Nimmo's throw went past the cutoff man and Leiter, backing up, tripped over a bat left in the Pirates' on-deck circle. With Leiter on the ground, Lowe ran home and scored on Nimmo's error.
It was over when …
Cruz's homer bounced off the top of the foul pole.
On the mound
Making it sweeter, beyond just the win, was that Ashcraft had roughly 200 friends and family members in attendance. Those who made the drive from Ashcraft's hometown of Waco, roughly 100 miles away, witnessed Ashcraft's 100th career strikeout when he K'ed Evan Carter in the fourth inning.
The runs Soto allowed were just the second and third he'd allowed all season, raising his ERA from 0.77 to 2.13. Dennis Santana pitched a clean ninth for the win.
At the plate
Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz both had two-hit games. Reynolds tied Bobby Bonilla for the most RBIs among Pirates switch-hitters. He also became the fourth Pirate this century to hit the mark, joining Brian Giles, Kevin Young and now-Ranger Andrew McCutchen.
McCutchen made an appearance against his former team with a pinch-hit single to start the rally against Soto in the eighth. The hit was McCutchen's first since April 1.
Most valuable player
Ashcraft. His 94 pitches were the most by a Pirate this season, one more than the 93 Carmen Mlodzinski threw on Tuesday night.
Up next
The Pirates and Rangers conclude their three-game series at 8:05 p.m. ET Thursday. Bubba Chandler (1-1, 3.15 ERA) will throw for Pittsburgh against Texas right-hander Jacob DeGrom (1-0, 2.29).
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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 11:31 PM.