'Something just wasn’t clicking': Reds fall to White Sox behind Ashcraft

CINCINNATI -- Taking a 108.8 mph comebacker by Luis Robert Jr. off his right leg smarted a little for Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft. That still paled in comparison to how Ashcraft felt about the worst performance of his big league career during a 17-4 Reds loss to the White Sox at Great American Ball Park on Sunday.

"Something just wasn’t clicking," Ashcraft said.

Over 1 2/3 innings, Ashcraft gave up a career-high eight earned runs and six hits -- all during an 11-run top of the second -- with two walks and three strikeouts. In a smooth 13-pitch first inning, he retired the side in order before things deteriorated quickly.

The Reds had a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Ashcraft walked the leadoff batter, Robert, ahead of Hanser Alberto lifting a two-run home run to left field.

"After the two-run homer, it just frustrated me because it was a 96-mph jammed home run. It [ticked] me off," Ashcraft said. "That’s not an excuse. That’s where you got to get into the mental side of the game. Not let the mental side take over. You have to get through it."

That was just the beginning during a disastrous 39-pitch inning for Ashcraft. Chicago scored nine of its runs during the rally with two outs.

After a four-pitch walk to Tim Anderson, Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run single and Andrew Vaughn added a drive to right field, where Wil Myers misplayed the ball. It went for a two-run triple to make it a 6-1 game.

“I thought it was gone off the bat and it kind of kept tailing there towards the line a little more than I thought," Myers said. "When I reached out to get it, my glove hit the pad and the ball was already on the wall."

Robert added the exclamation point with his RBI single off Ashcraft's leg.

"It’s got a bruise on it, but it’s fine. Hit the hamstring," Ashcraft said.

Manager David Bell made the pitching change and would have even if Ashcraft wasn't struck by a ball.

"It was just too many pitches," Bell said. "There's kind of an unwritten limit of 35-40 pitches. A pitcher gets up to that many pitches in one inning, you start thinking about it being too much work in a short period of time."

Reliever Casey Legumina took over and would give up Gavin Sheets' three-run homer before finally securing the third out.

The last time Reds pitchers endured an 11-run inning was when the Phillies scored 13 on April 13, 2003. It was only last month, on April 16 vs. Philadelphia, when a Reds pitcher had an eight-run inning when Luis Cessa gave up nine.

Entering the day, Ashcraft had allowed eight runs all season in his previous six starts. His ERA jumped from 2.00 to 3.82 over one poor afternoon as Cincinnati dropped two of three in the series.

"I don’t want to leave those guys out there, especially in the second inning," Ashcraft said. "I love my bullpen. I don’t want to do that to them. I want to give them as much of a day off as I can. It’s just one of those games where I needed their help today."

Friedl dodges tag in wild rundown
In the bottom of the first inning, TJ Friedl was leading off second base when White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech turned and made a pickoff throw. Friedl bolted for third base and got caught in a long rundown.

As the throws went back and forth, Spencer Steer advanced from first base to second base and Friedl kept running.

"In my mind I’m just trying to stay in it as long as I can, maybe just see if something can happen like a bad throw or an error," Friedl said. "As I turned back to go to second, it was either Tim Anderson or one of them said ‘just run him back.’"

Finally, Friedl was safe at second base. Since the first baseman, Vaughn, was backing up at second base, first base was left open and Steer was able to sprint back safely.

"I was like, ‘Wow, that worked out,'" Friedl said.

Great catch by Myers
The game was already a rout in the sixth inning when Myers robbed Seby Zavala of a home run in right field with a leaping catch at the fence.

"Obviously, I was able to time it pretty well and make a good leap and make the good catch," Myers said. "It’s always nice to be able to save your pitcher on one.”