Pirates turn to Braxton Ashcraft in quest to salvage finale vs. Marlins

Pittsburgh's Braxton Ashcraft and Miami's Tyler Phillips have some things in common.

Both of them are right-handed starting pitchers who have spent loads of time as relievers.

On Thursday afternoon, they will be starters when Ashcraft (11-5, 4.08 ERA) and the Pirates visit Phillips (3-5, 3.47) and the Marlins to conclude a three-game series.

Ashcraft, 26, was Pittsburgh's second-round pick in 2018, selected out of the Texas high school ranks. He made his MLB debut last year, making his first seven appearances as a reliever.

This year, Ashcraft only has been a starter, and the Pirates are 15-8 when he pitches. Ashcraft, who has never faced the Marlins, has 10 quality starts this year.

His walk rate is down (3.1 per nine innings last year to 2.2 this season), and his strikeouts are up (from 9.2 to 9.9). His homers allowed, however, are up (from 0.4 to 1.3). In fact, he has allowed 19 homers in 23 starts.

Phillips, 28, was drafted in the 16th round in 2015 from the New Jersey prep ranks.

As for his MLB trajectory, Phillips has been a reliever the majority of his appearances. However, he has made 11 straight starts, and the Marlins are 5-6 during that span.

For his career, Phillips has a 2.45 ERA in 70 relief appearances and a 5.46 ERA in 21 starts. He has gone 1-0 with an 0.90 ERA in three appearances (one start).

In terms of team success, the Marlins have won four straight games and on Thursday will try to sweep the Pirates, who are just 1-7 since the trade deadline.

And that slump has Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly searching for some positivity with his players.

"We have to slow down and understand where we're at," Kelly said. "Yes, we want to be fearless. We want to be aggressive. But we also have to play smart baseball."

Meanwhile, the Marlins are just 1 1/2 games outside of the final National League wild-card berth, and a big key for them has been pitching. In fact, from June 1 to the start of play on Wednesday, Miami's starting staff led the National League with a 3.17 ERA.

The Marlins also have a strong bullpen. Closer Pete Fairbanks has been especially good over his past seven appearances, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out 10 batters in seven scoreless innings.

For the season, the Marlins' staff entered Wednesday ranked 10th in the majors with a 3.93 ERA.

Offensively, two of Miami's hottest hitters are Heriberto Hernandez, who leads the team with 17 homers, and Griffin Conine, who has 13.

Both players went deep in Miami's 8-2 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Conine homered for the 10th time in his past 28 games. Despite missing more than 10 weeks due to injury earlier this year, he is thriving. On Wednesday he went 2-for-2 with three walks, three runs, one homer, one double and one RBI.

"We need contributions from as many places as we can get it," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said following Wednesday's win. "It's going to have to come from all over the lineup."

--Field Level Media