Mike Burrows shines in start as Pirates shut out Astros to even series

Mike Burrows came out full of adrenaline, only to find himself in a 3-0 count against Houston Astros leadoff batter Jeremy Pena.

That’s when Burrows came to a realization about the first two starts of his major-league career and slowed the game down. Burrows began by recovering to strike out Pena, the first of a career-best six strikeouts.

“I think I overcomplicated the game in the first two outings,” Burrows said. “I just kept it simple and made the pitches and tried to get quick outs.”

Burrows tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings, and the bullpen backed him up as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Astros, 3-0, Wednesday night before 12,359 at PNC Park.

It was the seventh shutout win of the season for the Pirates (23-39), who were blanked by the same score in Tuesday’s three-game series opener.

Between Burrows and starter-turned-reliever Braxton Ashcraft, the Pirates got strong performances from a pair of rookie right-handers. Where Burrows allowed five hits without a walk, Ashcraft had three strikeouts and gave up one hit in scoreless seventh and eighth innings.

“They were great, especially Burrows coming in after a couple, I don’t want to say tough outings, but I know he wishes they had gone differently,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “To come out and do what he did and throw strikes and change speeds, his velo was up, he did a great job. Ash coming out of the ‘pen, something he hasn’t really done, to have that mindset and dominate in that fashion was awesome.”

Burrows had an extended break between his last start, a 9-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 27, so he threw an extra bullpen while waiting to be sandwiched between Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller in the Houston series.

The Pirates provided Burrows an early cushion so he could pitch with comfort, especially with Endy Rodriguez behind the plate. Burrows (1-1) threw 42 of his 70 pitches for strikes, drawing 10 whiffs and 14 called strikes.

“Trust Endy,” Burrows said. “Just whatever he’s calling, whatever he’s putting down, I was exactly on page with what I wanted to throw and just making the pitches.”

The Pirates loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning when Ryan Gusto walked Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz, then hit Ke’Bryan Hayes with a pitch. Gusto got Adam Frazier to hit a soft grounder to short to escape without any damage.

They didn’t miss their shot in the second. Tommy Pham was called out on a grounder to short, but the Pirates challenged and the call was overturned after video review. Rodriguez followed with a double down the right-field line to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Pham scored on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s groundout to short for a 1-0 lead, and Oneil Cruz beat the throw on a grounder to second to put runners on the corners before stealing second base. Andrew McCutchen’s fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly drove in Rodriguez for a two-run advantage.

“Just finding ways to manufacture runs,” Kelly said. “(Tuesday) night was frustrating. We don’t score. But the road trip was good. I felt like we got back on track a little bit, passed the baton, not trying to do too much and cashing in when we had an opportunity.”

The Pirates cashed in with another run in the third. Horwitz hit a leadoff single to center, advanced to third on a Hayes single to right and scored when Frazier grounded into a 4-6-3 double play for a 3-0 lead.

Meantime, Burrows responded to a two-out double by Victor Caratini by getting Jake Meyers to ground out to short in the second and followed a Pena two-out single by getting Isaac Paredes to ground out to second. In the third, He answered Jose Altuve’s leadoff single by getting Christian Walker to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and Yainer Diaz’s single by getting Caratini looking at a called third strike.

“You learn through the minor leagues when you’re coming up how to handle different situations,” Kelly said. “You get to the big leagues, and it’s a little bit more … lights are brighter, there’s a lot more pressure that you feel and that pressure’s a privilege to go out there and do that.”

The Pirates stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings. Cruz hit a two-out double in the fourth, then stole third base but McCutchen struck out on a check swing. Reynolds and Horwitz singled to start the fifth but the Astros turned to left-hander Steven Okert with one out, and he got the lefty-hitting Frazier to ground into a double play.

Pena doubled to start the sixth, and Burrows was pulled after Paredes lined out to left. Chase Shugart walked Altuve on four pitches but struck out Walker and got Diaz to ground out.

Ashcraft followed with three strikeouts in two scoreless innings. That drew high praise from Kelly, who called it “unreal.”

“Coming in with a three-run lead in the seventh inning and to go seventh and eighth there, to throw strikes, mixing fastball and slider — the slider was electric: 93, maybe even hit 94,” Kelly said. “He did an awesome job, especially in that type of situation in the game.”

Ashcraft set the table for David Bednar to finish off the game. Bednar struck out Walker, gave up a single to Diaz, got Caratini swinging at a full-count splitter and Meyers to fly out to center for his seventh save and preserve the shutout.

“Feels great,” Burrows said. “Couldn’t have asked for much more. It was a really good game.”