PITTSBURGH — Chandler’s first start at PNC Park was a disaster. His second was one of the better outings any pitcher on his team has delivered all season.

In just his third career start as a major leaguer, Chandler followed up a stellar performance last week with an equally impressive showing Saturday evening, throwing five scoreless innings to earn the win in the Pirates’ 2-0 victory against the Athletics.

"He established the fastball early, triple-digits, up to 101-plus,” manager Don Kelly said of his starter. “I think what stood out to me was his slider, and how he's able to throw it for a strike and get swing and miss off it as well. When you mix that with the lead fastball, he was really good."

Chandler started his workday with a bang, striking out the side in the top of the first. He allowed just one hit, a double to Jacob Wilson in the second. Brett Harris was the only other batter to reach base safely against the rookie, getting hit by a pitch in the third.

No Athletics player advanced past second base when Chandler was on the mound. He struck out six batters and walked none. He threw just 68 pitches, 47 for strikes. The win improved his record to 3-1 on the season, and dropped his ERA down to 4.56.

“I think I had a good mentality coming into this start,” Chandler said. “ ... I had a good warmup, had a good day of prep, a good week of prep.”

Braxton Ashcraft followed Chandler, throwing three perfect innings of relief. Dennis Santana then finished it off with a scoreless ninth, securing the club’s 18th shutout and his 14th save.

It was over when …

Ashcraft toed the rubber and matched Chandler’s pace. He struck out six of the nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a single ball to leave the infield. Ashcraft threw just 33 pitches, 25 for strikes. He was even more dominant, just over a shorter stretch.

“Gosh, that was nasty,” Chandler said of Ashcraft’s performance. “Some of the swings they were taking on that guy, they were lost. It was fun to see as pitchers. Braxton has been doing it all year. It’s been really fun to watch. It was great.”

On the mound

Chandler and Ashcraft combined to throw eight innings of one-hit ball, walking none and striking out 12. Santana finished the job with a perfect ninth. Together, the trio held a scrappy Athletics’ offense to just one hit, and faced only two batters over the minimum. They did so efficiently, combining to throw just 101 pitches.

"It was unbelievable,” Kelly said. “ ... It was really impressive the way they got after it. The way they generated swing and miss, got some punch-outs and then induced some quick contact as well. And [the Athletics] have some guys that can battle at the plate as well, too."

At the plate

Nick Yorke gave the Pirates an early lead, tagging Athletics starter Luis Morales, the game’s losing pitcher, for a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning. Bryan Reynolds doubled Pittsburgh's advantage an inning later, hitting a solo homer to right field.

"He killed that ball,” Kelly said of Reynolds’ blast. “It was a really great swing off the bat. You could just hear the crack and knew it was gone. It was a huge run for us, getting us up two."

Those two runs were all Pittsburgh needed. The Pirates finished with five hits total. Yorke tallied a multi-hit game, also notching a single in the bottom of the fourth.

Most valuable player

Chandler. Ashcraft also deserves recognition, but the starter gets the share of the paise for this all around dominant team effort on the mound.

Yeah, it's a good day on defense when they're pitching,” Yorke said. “I've been able to see Bubba and Ashcraft in Triple-A a lot, so to see them do it here together back-to-back, that was a lot of fun.

Up next

The Pirates will play their final home game of the 2025 season Sunday afternoon against the Athletics. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET.

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