Reds rookie Graham Ashcraft threw a career high 8 innings allowing only 2 runs. Ashcraft struck out 8 and garnered 10 swings and misses.
Ashcraft struck out 2 in the first inning, he did allow a single and a hit by pitch in the second inning but it came with 2 outs and no runs came across the plate. He allowed a leadoff single in the third inning but induced 3 straight ground balls to get out of the inning. Ashcraft allowed a solo homer in the fourth, but did also strikeout 2 in the frame. He faced the minimum in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, striking out 3 across those frames. The only other run he allowed was an RBI single in his final inning of work.
Six of his eight strikeouts came on his cutter, while his cutter doesn’t have great numbers, it does have a ground ball percentage of 57.1% and Ashcraft throws his cutter at an average of 97.5 mph. The numbers haven’t been in Ashcraft’s favor to start his rookie season, but his stuff is definitely there.