Cincinnati.com · Aug 9, 2023
Why Cincinnati Reds think 'reset' with off days might be fix for bullpen's recent cracks
Graham Ashcraft is pitching as well as any Cincinnati Reds starter these days – as well as almost anybody in baseball the last six weeks.
So when he gets through seven innings with the lead and has allowed only one run, where you gonna go?
On Friday against the red-hot Washington Nationals, at 87 pitches, Ashcraft kept the ball and pitched the eighth. On Wednesday against the wild-card-chasing Miami Marlins, at 103 pitches, he handed off to the bullpen.
Both decisions were almost certainly right.
Neither one ended right for the Reds. They lost both games in the final inning after the Nats and Marlins used those eighth innings to tie both games.