MIAMI — Rafael Flores Jr. said he’s “nasty.” Jared Triolo alluded to his “strong demeanor” and an indescribable presence.

When Braxton Ashcraft took the mound Thursday at loanDepot park, that was all evident — and then some.

The Pirates’ All-Star righty spun his first complete game in 85 pitches, striking out 10 and giving up just three hits and one run as the Pirates dodged a sweep against the Miami Marlins with a 13-1 victory. Of 16 complete games in MLB this season, Ashcraft needed the fewest pitches to get there.

“I turned around and looked at his pitch count, and I thought it was a typo,” Triolo said.

In fact, the last time a Pirate threw a complete game in under 100 pitches was Ivan Nova on April 29, 2017, against the Marlins. The last to do it under 90 pitches? That’d be Jeff Karstens on July 15, 2011, against the Houston Astros.

“I kept telling myself, ‘This is my game. I started it, I want to finish it,’ ” Ashcraft said.

Pirates manager Don Kelly said there were “discussions” about removing Ashcraft, but he stuck with the 26-year-old anyway. Ashcraft flirted with a “Maddux” — a complete game shutout in under 100 pitches — and carried a shutout into the ninth, but he gave up a leadoff home run to the Marlins’ Owen Caissie.

Regardless, he retired the ensuing two batters and authored the Pirates’ first nine-inning complete game since May 2024.

“That was huge not only for me as a career accomplishment, but sets us up going into next week pretty well,” Ashcraft said.

With Ashcraft cruising, the Pirates took the lead in the fifth with a couple of opportune plays. Jake Mangum led off the inning with a triple and scored on a balk from Marlins losing pitcher Tyler Phillips (3-6, 3.65). Triolo followed with a deep fly ball that was knocked over the wall by Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee for a home run.

The solo shot marked Triolo’s second homer of the season, with his other coming on June 29.

Ashcraft gave up a leadoff single in the fifth before inducing a third double play of the afternoon, which tied a season high for the Pirates. He then struck out Leo Jimenez to cap five innings at 50 pitches.

“He’s an All-Star, man. He earned that in the first half,” Kelly said. “Certainly did today coming off some tough losses. To post the way he did today was outstanding.”

The Pirates added on in the sixth when Jacob Gonzalez walked to load the bases and Mangum was plunked by Marlins reliever Cade Gibson. Triolo pounced on a curveball for a two-run single to left field as the Pirates took a 5-0 lead.

Flores hit two home runs — amassing a career-high six RBIs — and he and Gonzalez both homered against Marlins third baseman Javier Sanoja in the ninth.

It was over when ...

... Ashcraft took the mound in the first inning. He was dominant from the outset and strung together his finest performance as a major leaguer.

On the mound

Ashcraft needed only 56 pitches to get through six innings, the fewest by a Pirate since Nova (52 pitches) on May 30, 2017, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The righty was drawing plenty of soft contact and peppering the strike zone, using his sinker the most and throwing 64 of his 85 pitches for strikes.

“There’s no secret that I throw a lot of strikes,” Ashcraft said. “I do that with a lot of confidence in the guys behind me.”

He entered Thursday with a 7.58 ERA in four starts since the All-Star break but said he and the coaches identified some “mechanical little nuances” related to his delivery that he worked on tweaking during Monday’s off day. Ashcraft declined to divulge further, but the results certainly spoke for themselves.

And for his catcher — on the other end of Ashcraft for the first time in the big leagues — seeing it all come to fruition was “sick.”

“The pace of play is unbelievable,” Flores said. “I mean, he gets the ball and wants to throw the next pitch right away. If he pitches like that, he’s gonna pitch for a long time.”

At the plate

Although a chunk of the production came against a position player, the Pirates totaled 16 hits and batted 4 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Nick Gonzales went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles, good for an MLB-leading 48th multi-hit game this season. Triolo notched one of his best games at the plate this year, knocking three hits, drawing a walk and tallying three RBIs for the first time since July 1, as well as the second time overall.

Mangum also had a three-hit game with a triple, a double and a single, snapping out of an 0 for 8 funk in the past two games against the Marlins.

Bucs bites

— Endy Rodriguez was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday morning, retroactive to Aug. 10, with left hip inflammation. He was scratched from the lineup before the Pirates’ game against the New York Mets on Aug. 8 with hip discomfort and he’ll now work through a second stint on the IL this season after missing nearly three weeks in July with a left glute strain.

Rodriguez is hitting .267 this season with seven home runs, 20 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 45 games.

— As part of Thursday’s roster moves, Evan Sisk (1-0, 2.66 ERA) was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. He pitched 2/3 of an inning Wednesday night, issuing two walks, hitting a batter and allowing two inherited runners to score in the third inning. Sisk was activated from the 15-day injured list on Aug. 5 and has allowed three runs in his last 3 1/3 innings. Infielder Jack Brannigan and reliever Isaac Mattson were recalled from Indianapolis as the corresponding transactions, marking their third and fourth big league stints this year, respectively.

— Bryan Reynolds has now played in 132 straight games, tying Andrew McCutchen for the Pirates’ fourth-longest streak since 1989.

Up next

The Pirates return home to face the Boston Red Sox, who have lost five straight following a scorching 27-3 stretch since early July. Bubba Chandler (5-8, 4.26) will get the ball for the series opener at 6:40 p.m. Friday. The Red Sox will counter with lefty Jake Bennett (7-5, 3.17), one of two southpaws slated to start for the visitors over the weekend.

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