On a night when Pirates starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft briefly flirted with a no-hitter, Ryan O'Hearn got a lot of love from his bat. Playing in his 800th career game, Pittsburgh’s cleanup hitter had three hits and set a career-high with six RBIs as the Bucs beat the Athletics 12-4 on Wednesday night to secure the series win. “I haven’t hit the ball really well to left field lately, and that’s a strength of mine,” O’Hearn said. “Kind of working on that, just cleaning some things up mechanically. I feel good. I think I’m trending in the right direction.” Struggling Marcell Ozuna was back in manager Don Kelly’s lineup and responded with his first home run since May 15. Spencer Horwitz, Bryan Reynolds, Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo added two hits apiece during a game in which all nine Pirates starters had at least one hit. It also marked the second straight game in which Pittsburgh reached double-digit hits. “That’s a key for us, quality at-bats and production up and down the lineup,” O’Hearn said. “Any stretch that we’ve had that’s been really good this season, the common denominator has been the offense has been kind of relentless up and down the lineup.” Ashcraft, who closed out May with three consecutive wins, got back on track after a bumpy start to June. The right-hander (6-3) had seven strikeouts in six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits. The Pirates jumped on A’s starter Aaron Civale early, pushing three runs across in the first inning before many fans at Sutter Health Park had found their seats. Horwitz doubled to begin the game and Brandon Lowe followed with a walk. Reynolds doubled in one run before O’Hearn knocked in two more.
