Pittsburgh Pirates

Pirates show fight early but go out with whimper in rough start for Ashcraft

Pirates Braves Baseball Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser) (Erik S. Lesser/AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.

The Pittsburgh Pirates showed plenty of heart in the early innings of their 6-3 loss in Atlanta on Saturday, June 6, battling back from an early three-run deficit to tie the game.

After securing the tying run, however, the rug got pulled out from under the Pirates (34-31). The Braves answered with a three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth that they never found a response to.

Scoring Plays

Bottom 1st, 2-0 ATL: The Braves drew first blood against the usually-reliable Braxton Ashcraft, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mauricio Dubón hitting back-to-back singles to start things off. Ozzie Albies plated Acuña on a sacrifice fly and Austin Riley doubled home another.

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