PITTSBURGH (Interstat) — Braxton Ashcraft struck out 10 over six dominant innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates erupted for 11 runs on 15 hits to rout the Seattle Mariners 11-1 Wednesday night at PNC Park, evening both teams’ records at 40-40 and 41-40 respectively.

Ashcraft, who improved to 7-3 on the season, allowed one run on five hits and did not walk a batter. He set down nine Mariners via strikeout after the first inning, when Seattle scratched across its only run. The right-hander retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced, including five consecutive strikeouts spanning the fourth and fifth innings. Carmen Mlodzinski earned his second save of the season with three scoreless innings of relief, permitting two hits and striking out three.

Bryan Woo, the Seattle starter, took the loss and fell to 6-6 after allowing five runs on seven hits over four innings. Woo struck out four and walked two.

Seattle grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on three consecutive singles. J.P. Crawford led off with a line drive to center, Cal Raleigh followed with a single deflected by first baseman Spencer Horwitz that put runners at the corners, and Julio Rodríguez grounded a single through the left side to score Crawford. Ashcraft then struck out Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena and retired Dominic Canzone on a fly out to strand two runners.

The Pirates answered in the fourth with a five-run outburst that turned the game. Bryan Reynolds singled to center to start the inning, but was forced at second on Nick Gonzales’ grounder. Ryan O’Hearn then doubled down the left-field line, putting runners at second and third. Endy Rodríguez followed with a double to right, scoring Gonzales and O’Hearn to tie the game 1-1. Tyler Callihan tripled to right center, driving in Rodríguez for a 2-1 lead, and Jake Mangum singled to left to bring home Callihan. After Jared Triolo struck out on a challenge overturn, Esmerlyn Valdez singled to center to score Mangum and make it 5-1.

Pittsburgh added four more in the seventh. Brandon Lowe singled and Reynolds walked, and Gonzales singled to load the bases with no outs. O’Hearn doubled to right, clearing the bases with two runs scoring to make it 7-1. Endy Rodríguez singled to right, scoring Gonzales for an 8-1 lead, and Callihan lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored O’Hearn. Jake Mangum then grounded into a force out, and Triolo grounded into another force out to end the inning with the Pirates up 9-1.

The Pirates tacked on two runs in the eighth. Valdez led off with a double to right, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Reynolds’ double to center. After a groundout, O’Hearn doubled to right to score pinch runner Billy Cook and stretch the lead to 11-1.

Seattle’s only other threat came in the second when Cole Young doubled, but Ashcraft stranded him. The Mariners put two runners on in the ninth against Mlodzinski, but he retired the next three batters to seal the win.

O’Hearn led the Pirates’ offensive outburst with a 4-for-5 performance, including three doubles and three RBIs. Endy Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Callihan tripled and drove in two runs, and Valdez went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Reynolds had two hits, including a double, and drove in one run. Mangum added a hit and an RBI.

For Seattle, Rodríguez finished 2-for-5 with the RBI single in the first. Young had the only extra-base hit, a double. The Mariners managed only seven hits total and struck out 12 times.

The game lasted 2 hours, 31 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 18,750 at PNC Park.

The Mariners had won the series opener Tuesday night 3-2. The teams conclude their three-game series Thursday afternoon.

Seattle’s next 10 games include the series finale here Thursday, then three games at Cleveland, followed by three home games against the Los Angeles Angels and three against Toronto. Pittsburgh will host Seattle again Thursday, then welcome Cincinnati for a three-game set, then travel to Philadelphia for four games and to Washington for three.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Seattle 4, Pittsburgh 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Seattle a 53.60 percent probability to win. The Mariners were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1½. The total of 12 runs went under the over/under line of 7.