Ashcraft's strong start a breath of fresh air despite HRs

CINCINNATI -- The Reds needed right-hander Graham Ashcraft to be good Friday night.

Ashcraft answered the bell. But the Reds couldn't make his start hold up as they fell to Nationals, 6-3, for a fourth straight loss before a crowd of 39,284 at Great American Ball Park.

Ashcraft went eight innings and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks. Through seven frames, he had surrendered just a solo home run to Lane Thomas. But his line was somewhat spoiled by a two-run homer he gave up to Joey Meneses with two outs in the eighth.

"[Catcher Tyler Stephenson] called fastball," Ashcraft said. "I shook slider. It was in a pretty good spot. Not necessarily executed, but it was in a pretty good spot. You really can't do anything about it.

"It's one of those outings I'm really happy about. Two mistakes on two pitches."

Given the struggles of the Reds' starters lately, Ashcraft's was a super outing. It came after Cincinnati starters were lit up for 26 runs over 14 2/3 innings in the four-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Through his first six starts of the season, Ashcraft went 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 36 innings. Then things went badly for him -- really badly. He was 1-6 with a 12.82 ERA over his next eight outings (33 innings).

Ashcraft has righted himself over his past seven starts, including Friday, going 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings.

The series opener against the Nationals was a tough one to lose, given Ashcraft's outing.

"It's hard to measure," Reds manager David Bell said. "We're just trying to win a game every day."

The Reds jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on back-to-back home runs from Nick Senzel and Matt McLain. Senzel, inserted in the No. 2 spot against lefty Patrick Corbin, hit his ninth long ball of the season to the opposite field.

McLain hit the next pitch a Statcast-projected 422 feet out to center for his 12th.

The Reds added a run in the third on Elly De La Cruz's ninth homer. It was the first for De La Cruz, a switch-hitter, off a right-handed pitcher.

Ashcraft did not allow a run until Thomas’ homer in the sixth. The Nats tied it, 3-3, in the eighth on Meneses' home run, and they won it in the 10th. Alexis Díaz, who tallied two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning, returned for the 10th and gave up a double to Jake Alu that scored the automatic runner. He then allowed a two-run homer to Thomas to make it 6-3.

"We're asking a lot of Alexis," Bell said.