Pirates walk tightrope in 3-0 win against Dodgers

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sep 3, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — Time and time again, Pirate rookies walked a tightrope. Against the reigning champions, they didn’t fall.

Despite six walks, two off a season high, Pirates pitchers Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Evan Sisk, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana combined for a 3-0 shutout win against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at PNC Park, the Pirates’ league-leading 17th shutout of the season. The Pirates have won 11 of 15 and will go for a sweep of the National League West-leading Dodgers on Thursday.

With the win, the Pirates improved to 51-51 in manager Don Kelly’s 102 games in charge.

The tightrope act started early. Ashcraft loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning on a single from first baseman Freddie Freeman and two walks, then struck out center fielder Andy Pages and second baseman Kyle Freeland before third baseman Enrique Hernandez flew out. Ashcraft threw 37 pitches in the inning, going to a 3-2 count on the first five batters of the frame.

He did the same with two outs in the third inning, allowing a single to catcher Dalton Rushing and walking two more batters to load the bases for left fielder Alex Call. Call grounded out to catcher Joey Bart, keeping the shutout intact.

The Dodgers left 10 runners on base, including six in the first three innings.

Ashcraft managed just the three innings, throwing 71 pitches (just 38 for strikes). But Burrows (three innings), Sisk (one inning), Mattson (one inning) and Santana (one inning) combined on the shutout. Santana pitched a scoreless ninth for his 13th save of the season. He struck out star designated hitter Shohei Ohtani to end it.

It was over when …

Sisk was the final rookie to walk a tightrope, allowing an Ohtani single and walking Rushing in the seventh. Freeman flew out to end the Dodgers’ final real scoring chance of the game.

On the mound

Burrows, pitching out of the bullpen for his second consecutive appearance, gave the Pirates some much-needed length. With Carmen Mlodzinski and Bubba Chandler appearing in Tuesday’s series opener, Burrows was the only length option Kelly had.

Burrows allowed two hits and a walk, striking out two. He gave up a double to Ohtani and walked shortstop Mookie Betts to start the fifth, but got Rushing to lineout before Freeman grounded into an inning-ending double play.

At the plate

The Pirates had expected to face Ohtani, but the reigning MVP was scratched on the mound because of an illness. Instead, the Dodgers started right-hander Emmet Sheehan, a starter who they’d planned on skipping because of off days.

The Pirates scored two of their three runs early. Bryan Reynolds homered off Sheehan in the first inning, hitting the 12th pitch of his at-bat in the right-field bleachers, while Andrew McCutchen added another with a solo homer off Sheehan in the second.

Most valuable player

Beyond catching a shutout, Bart had a 3 for 3 day at the plate. He hit a liner off the Clemente Wall in right field against reliever Ben Casparius in the sixth inning, scoring Nick Gonzales from second base.

Up next

The Pirates and Dodgers conclude their three-game series at 6:40 p.m. Thursday. Righty Paul Skenes (9-9, 2.05) will throw for Pittsburgh against Los Angeles lefty Blake Snell (3-3, 2.41).