Three pitches after Cincinnati Reds starter Graham Ashcraft watched Andrew Vaughn hit a two-run triple off the right field wall, Luis Robert Jr. hit a one-hop comebacker that struck Ashcraft in the back of his right leg and deflected far enough to allow another run to score.
The second inning Sunday, for Ashcraft and the Reds, was an absolute nightmare. Ashcraft threw 39 pitches in the inning and still didn’t make it out, pulled after giving up eight runs on six hits and two walks.
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The Chicago White Sox had seven straight batters reach base with two outs during the second inning against Ashcraft and reliever Casey Legumina in their 17-4 rout over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. It was an 11-run second inning, the most runs the Reds allowed in an inning in the last 20 years.
How bad was it? Ashcraft permitted eight runs in his first six starts, entering Sunday with a 2.00 ERA in 36 innings. Then he doubled his run total in two-thirds of an inning.
This was a White Sox team that entered Sunday with the eighth-fewest runs in the majors and the fourth-lowest on-base percentage. Hanser Alberto hit a two-run homer off Ashcraft to jumpstart the White Sox in the second inning in front of 20,338 fans, then the floodgates opened after they loaded the bases with two outs.
Andrew Benintendi, a Madeira native, hit a two-run single to center on an elevated cutter. Vaughn followed with his two-run triple when Ashcraft left a fastball down the middle in a 0-2 count and right fielder Wil Myers didn’t read the ball well off the bat. After Ashcraft was hit by Robert’s comebacker, Reds Manager David Bell emerged from the dugout without a trainer to remove the 25-year-old starting pitcher.
It was the shortest start of Ashcraft’s career, lasting 1 2/3 innings, and the eight runs allowed were a career high.
Legumina replaced Ashcraft, but the White Sox didn’t stop hitting. Yasmani Grandal hit an RBI single and Gavin Sheets capped the rally with a three-run homer that traveled 410 feet to right field. The last time the Reds gave up 11 runs in an inning was April 13, 2003, in a 13-1 loss to Philadelphia.
The Reds held a 1-0 lead before the disastrous second inning. Jonathan India hit the ninth leadoff homer of his career, lining the second pitch he saw from White Sox starter Michael Kopech over the right field wall. India’s homer tied him with Barry Larkin for the third-most leadoff homers in Reds history, trailing only Pete Rose (18) and Kal Daniels (10).
The White Sox added three more runs in the third inning with three straight doubles. Alberto, who entered with a .182 batting average, went 4-for-4 with a walk, two doubles, a homer and four RBI.
Takeaways from the Reds’ series finale against the White Sox
1. Ashcraft ranks among the best pitchers in the league in ground ball rate, but he elevated far too many pitches in Sunday’s start. In fact, Robert’s comebacker that hit him was the only ground ball he induced against his 13 batters, which includes his three strikeouts.
Few pitchers are immune to one rough outing during a season, but Ashcraft had a chance to escape with only two runs when he struck out Seby Zavala, the No. 9 hitter. Then he walked Tim Anderson on four pitches before giving up hits to Benintendi, Vaughn and Robert.
2. Luis Cessa entered in the eighth inning for his first relief appearance since the Reds decided to skip his turn in the rotation with an off day Monday. He surrendered three singles against the bottom of the White Sox lineup in a 13-run game, erasing one hit with a double play versus a pinch-hitting backup catcher.
All three singles were pitches in the bottom third of the strike zone that caught the middle of the plate. Cessa escaped without giving up a run when Zavala, the No. 9 hitter, lined out to shortstop.
The Reds haven’t announced a fifth starter for next week, which they’ll need Friday or Saturday in Miami, but pitching prospect Andrew Abbott struck out nine in five innings in his Triple-A start Sunday while giving up six hits and three runs. Abbott has allowed seven runs in 30 2/3 minor league innings (2.05 ERA).
3. Tyler Stephenson hit his first home run of the season in the third inning, an opposite field liner on an elevated 95-mph fastball. Stephenson, who had six homers in 166 at-bats during an injury-plagued 2022 season, went 115 at-bats before his first home run in 2023.
There were health reasons why the Reds wanted to give Stephenson more time at designated hitter and first base this year, plus it keeps a potential .300 hitter in the lineup more often, but he needs to hit for more power to be a regular starter at non-catching positions. Spencer Steer hit a solo homer in front of Stephenson and it was the Reds’ first set of back-to-back homers this year.
Stat of the day
The last time the Reds allowed 17 runs in a game was an 18-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on May 4, 2022.
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