Pirates 13, Marlins 1: Ashcraft Completes It, Flores Hits Two Three-Run Shots

August 13, 2026 - Miami - Braxton Ashcraft had faced the minimum through eight innings on 85 pitches. Then Owen Caissie led off the ninth with a homer to center, and the shutout was gone. The complete game was not. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 13-1 at loanDepot park, snapped a three-game skid, and handed Ashcraft the first nine-inning complete game of his career.

Rafael Flores Jr. hit two three-run homers and drove in six. Jared Triolo went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Jake Mangum reached three times and scored three. Pittsburgh piled up 16 hits. Miami got three.

Scoreless, then a balk, then Triolo

Tyler Phillips and Ashcraft traded zeroes for four innings. Miami never put a runner in scoring position. Three double plays and a caught stealing kept the traffic off the bases.

The fifth broke it. Mangum tripled to lead off. Phillips balked him home. Triolo followed with his second homer of the season. 2-0, and the afternoon stopped being a pitchers' duel.

Pittsburgh added three in the sixth. Cade Gibson inherited two runners, walked Jacob Gonzalez, hit Mangum with the bases loaded, and watched Triolo single in two more. 5-0. Nick Gonzales and Esmerlyn Valdez had already set the table. Spencer Horwitz finished with two hits in a lineup that simply did not stop.

Flores, twice, into the seats

Flores ended the argument in the eighth. Mangum doubled. Triolo walked. Flores hit John King's 1-2 curve 384 feet to left for a three-run shot. 8-0. He became the first Pirates catcher since Don Slaught in 1993 to homer twice and drive in six in the same game.

Miami let Javier Sanoja, a position player, pitch the ninth. Gonzalez went upper deck for two. Flores went again for three. 13-0 before Caissie finally put Miami on the board.

Ashcraft still finished it. Nine innings, three hits, one run, one walk, 10 strikeouts. Sixty-four of 85 pitches were strikes. He improved to 12-5, the first Pirate to 12 wins since Mitch Keller in 2023, and the first to complete a game in under 100 pitches since Ivan Nova against these same Marlins in 2017.

Phillips took the loss at 3-6: 5 1/3 innings, four runs, six hits. The Marlins had taken the first two of the series. They left 62-60, still near the last NL wild-card line. Pittsburgh is 59-64.

What a 13-1 does in August

This was not a statement about the NL Central. It was a starter going the distance on a short pitch count and a catcher who had not been the story of anyone's week until Thursday. Flores had two homers and six RBI. Triolo matched a career high with three RBI. Mangum's triple, double, and three runs were the engine before the homers.

Boston opens in Pittsburgh on Friday (Jake Bennett vs. Bubba Chandler). Miami goes to Cincinnati (Sandy Alcantara vs. Chase Burns).

AthX Engine angle

The Pirates finished with 28 AthX Engine team fantasy points, the clear top of Thursday's team board. Ashcraft had 35 pitching fantasy points, tied with Cade Cavalli for the slate lead. Flores had 14 hitting fantasy points. Triolo had 12. Mangum had 11. Miami finished at -12 team fantasy points.

Track Ashcraft, Flores, and the Pirates on the marketplace. AthX Engine grades the night. Price is what the market pays tomorrow.

*Sources: MLB.com gameday wrap, ESPN box score, AP recap via CBS, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 13, 2026. Information only; not financial advice.*