The Cincinnati Reds have lost six games in a row after dropping a pair of them last night to San Francisco. The Giants will look to keep their winning going, but Cincinnati’s going to try and get things going in the right direction again with a resurgent Graham Ashcraft on the mound. First pitch tonight is set for 7:10pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Starting Pitchers
Graham Ashcraft
In each of his last three starts, Graham Ashcraft has allowed one run. He’s thrown 18.2 innings in that stretch and seems to have gotten out of the funk that he was in for the previous two months.
Up until the second week of May, Ashcraft had dominated left-handed hitters. But then for the next two months they crushed him like he was telling them what was coming. Over the last three starts he’s gone back to dominating them, holding them to an OPS of .528. Right-handed hitters have done a little better than that, hitting .281/.361/.344 against him in that same period of time.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 214 | 56 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 22 | 30 | .303 | .385 | .487 |
| LHH | 181 | 44 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 33 | .270 | .339 | .442 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-seam | Cutter | Slider | |
| Velo | 96.7 | 96.4 | 88.3 |
| Usage | 10% | 52% | 38% |
Ross Stripling
After missing five weeks on the injured list, Ross Stripling has been handled with extreme caution over the last three weeks, throwing 72 pitches in his last outing – the most he’s had since his return. His last outing saw him strike out a season high six batters and walk no one in 4.2 innings against the Pirates.
The splits for Stripling this season are interesting. Left-handed hitters are hitting for a high average, walking at a solid rate, and hitting for a moderate amount of power. Right-handed hitters are not walking at all and have a sub .300 on-base percentage against Stripling. But they are also hitting for a good average and a bunch of power, while making plenty of contact.
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 122 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 22 | .274 | .295 | .539 |
| LHH | 76 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 18 | .324 | .395 | .485 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.0 | 89.9 | 75.9 | 87.1 | 84.1 |
| Usage | 28% | 7% | 11% | 30% | 25% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 82°, cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Levi Stoudt up, Daniel Duarte down
The Reds called up Levi Stoudt from Triple-A Louisville prior to the game today. He’s taking the spot on the roster of Daniel Duarte, who was optioned back to the minors. With the club using the entire bullpen yesterday, a fresh arm was likely needed. You can read more about the moves here if you’d like.
Blake Dunn is crushing it in Double-A
Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com we took a look at how outfielder Blake Dunn has been raking for Chattanooga. After a big night last night he’s hitting .349 for the Lookouts, and between his two stops this season (Dayton and Chattanooga) he’s already stolen 37 bases.
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Brewers | 52 | 43 | 0.0 | 71.3% |
| Reds | 50 | 46 | 2.5 | 16.3% |
| Cubs | 44 | 50 | 7.5 | 7.9% |
| Cardinals | 42 | 53 | 10.0 | 10.6% |
| Pirates | 42 | 54 | 10.5 | 0.5% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
