Ashcraft shows velo in return, but ends on tough note

CINCINNATI -- The first three scoreless innings of his first start back from the injured list on Saturday seemed to check most of the boxes of a typical Graham Ashcraft outing for the Reds. He had his effective cutter with triple-digit velocity, worked efficiently and induced soft contact.

By the end of the Brewers' four-run fourth inning, however, Ashcraft was venting frustration by slamming his glove on the dugout bench. The nine-batter rally did in the rookie right-hander and the Reds during a 10-2 loss at Great American Ball Park.

"Graham’s very competitive," Reds manager David Bell said. "He’s not going to be thrilled to come out of any game. He’s not gonna be thrilled with the results. But for me, there’s a lot of good to be taken from it, and we have a lot to look forward to."

Ashcraft finished with 70 pitches over four innings, allowing four earned runs, eight hits and a hit by pitch with no walks and two strikeouts. It was his first start since Aug. 19, as right biceps soreness sent him to the IL soon after.

Following a 1-2-3 first inning, Ashcraft took a 1-0 lead into the second inning and opened by giving up back-to-back singles. He escaped by striking out Andrew McCutchen with an 87-mph slider and got Luis Urías to ground into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. A leadoff single in the third inning by Omar Narváez was erased by a double play grounded to first base by Tyrone Taylor, and the seven-pitch frame ended with a Christian Yelich groundout.

Everything turned with one out in the top of the fourth inning. Rowdy Tellez smoked a first-pitch sinker with 110.2 mph exit velocity to notch a single to right field. Next was Hunter Renfroe, who clobbered a 3-2 slider to left field for a two-run homer that left his bat at 107.4 mph. On a 2-0 cutter, McCutchen hit a 110.3 mph two-out double to right-center field.

"I have to take accountability to myself and not let it get to me as much," Ashcraft said. "It pissed me off, because I know I either should have thrown the pitch better or I should have picked another pitch to throw. You've just got to get to the next pitch. I just kind of harped on a little bit too long."

Although softer, the hits kept coming when Narváez rolled an RBI single through the left side and Taylor lofted an RBI single to right field to make it a 4-1 game.

After Yelich -- the ninth batter of the inning -- grounded out, Ashcraft demonstrated his anger.

"Like that pitch to Renfroe. Nobody wants to throw a slider middle-middle at 84," Ashcraft said. "The ball got hit where it was supposed to. There's just not much you can really do. I had very few hard-hit balls, a lot of soft contact. They just happened to get through the holes or get over the infield."

Bell went over to offer encouragement to Ashcraft and let him know that his night was complete.

"First time back, I didn’t want to stress him with two starts left," Bell said. "Got that one out of the way. Some good things, though. Clearly, the first three innings, he was overpowering. Just looked great. Looked really strong and healthy.”

According to Statcast, Ashcraft's cutter (thrown 50 times) averaged 99 mph with an average exit velocity of 84.2 mph. His sinker (used nine times) averaged 99.4 mph and was hit harder by Milwaukee with an average exit velocity of 104.8 mph.

"I feel great. I mean, the radar gun kind of speaks for itself a little bit," said Ashcraft, who is 5-4 with a 4.18 ERA in 17 starts. "Arm felt great. I wanted to go back out there, but they just wanted to make sure that I was going to be in the right spot to finish the year strong, and I think it was the right call."

Connor Overton, who was activated on Friday after being on the injured list for four months, didn't have a great return either. The starter, who had a 1.82 ERA in four starts before his injury in late May, gave up five earned runs on four hits in three innings of relief -- including Renfroe's second homer of the night.

The Reds have lost three games in a row and 13 of their last 16, and they have a 59-93 record. With 10 games remaining, Cincinnati must go 4-6 or better to avoid the second 100-loss season in franchise history and its first since 1982.