Ashcraft breaks down after early dominance

DENVER -- Until Wednesday, Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft had never faced the Rockies and never worked at Coors Field. It's known as a place where smooth days and big leads can be swallowed up quickly, and Ashcraft learned that personally during an 11-6 loss to Colorado.

Ashcraft was cruising through four innings and took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth before the Rockies jumped him for five runs. Another six runs crossed in the sixth inning against him and reliever Lucas Sims. Colorado's hitters didn't homer during either rally.

"Just the stuff he had early was so good. They made adjustments," said Reds catcher Luke Maile, who had two hits, including a leadoff homer in the fifth inning. "There were some pitches I think we’re really going to want back obviously. In this ballpark -- not just for the homers -- there’s a lot of space out there [in the outfield], a lot of things find a way to land. It’s frustrating.”

Overall, Ashcraft allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits over five-plus innings with one walk and three strikeouts while throwing 80 pitches. He relied heavily on his cutter and threw it 64 times, with the other 16 pitches being sliders, according to Statcast.

It worked very effectively. Through his first four innings, Ashcraft had only 50 pitches and gave up three singles.

“I was just throwing the crap out of it, that’s really about it," Ashcraft said. "Location was there today, so we were able to go in and out. It was just good early on.”

With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Colorado's offense got perky with five straight batters reaching on four hits. Ashcraft walked Charlie Blackmon with the bases loaded before Jurickson Profar hit a two-run double to left field.

"They were just trying to ambush that first-pitch heater," Ashcraft said.

Elias Díaz added a two-out, two-run single to make it a 5-5 game.

"I thought they made a really nice adjustment," Reds manager David Bell said. "Graham, through the first four innings, I thought he had as good of stuff as he’s had all year, maybe the best, especially here to be able to do what he did. They made a really nice adjustment and were able to put the ball in play consistently. They were ready to hit the first pitch. After that, it was just a lot of hits were falling, and it made it tough on Graham."

Ashcraft returned for the sixth inning but gave up a double and a single before giving way to Sims.

"I wanted to come back and get a shutdown inning for the guys and kind of get the momentum back on our side," Ashcraft said. "But it just wasn’t our day.”

“That guy, he’s got good stuff -- a lot of cutters, hard, 97 [mph]” Profar said. “But we just kept fighting, putting at-bats together.”

Ashcraft's experience added another chapter to the Reds' rough track record at Coors Field, as they dropped two of three games in the series to finish a 3-3 road trip.

The Reds' 23-45 (.338) record at Colorado since 2002 is the worst win percentage for any team in the ballpark (min. 20 games). Cincinnati has won one series at it since 2012, and that was in 2016.

"It was just a bunch of weak contact, little flares to the holes and over heads and coming up short to the outfielders," Ashcraft said. "It just got the best of me.”

After having a 2.00 ERA through his first six starts, Ashcraft has given up 18 earned runs and 22 hits over his last three starts and 12 1/3 innings that has raised his ERA to 4.84 overall.

Bell wasn't concerned that Ashcraft was hitting a downturn.

"I’d be concerned if his first four innings weren’t as dominant as they were today. But he’ll learn from it," Bell said. "They were able to make an adjustment. Being a young pitcher, it’s really important to make sure you pay attention to that, learn from it and be prepared for that to happen next time and have an answer for it."