Wil Myers' two homers, dominant Ashcraft get Reds win over the Phillies
As Cincinnati Reds first baseman Wil Myers looked up at the sky and tried to track the baseball that he had just crushed, his grin kept getting bigger and bigger.
For the first two weeks of his Reds career, the 11-year veteran had been stuck in a slump. His first impression to a new team and a new fan base was a stretch where he went 7-for-36 with 15 strikeouts. He was the Reds’ biggest offseason addition in three years, and he wasn’t able to find any rhythm at the plate.
Reds roster moves Luke Weaver set to join Reds' rotation; Casey Legumina called up
Reds roster moves Joey Votto ends rehab assignment, heads back to Cincinnati for more training
Reds roster moves The Cincinnati Reds used a team-record 66 players in 2022. Where are they now?
He started standing closer to the plate. He found more balance, and he started driving some pitches down the left field line. On Saturday, as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 13-0, Myers showed that he has turned the corner. When he crushed his second home run of the game in the bottom of the third inning, he couldn’t stop smiling as he rounded the bases.
In the second inning, Myers pulled a 406-foot homer that landed in the second deck. Then in the third, he hit a 401-foot home run to left field that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead.
The Reds signed Myers to bring some punch to the middle of their order. He has delivered a big series against the Phillies with two hits and two RBI on Thursday, a hit and a walk on Friday and then his two-homer game on Saturday. He added a broken bat RBI double in the fifth to give the Reds a 6-0 lead and picked up a fourth hit in the eighth.
For the first time all season, the Reds gave starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft a big lead to work with. He wasn’t at his best, but he still threw six shutout innings.
Ashcraft is pitching so well right now that he gives himself plenty of margin for error. Ashcraft’s command wasn’t perfect on Saturday, he walked four batters and he allowed extra base hits in each of the first two innings. He pitched around all of that.
He had Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos lunging at a slider for a strikeout. He made Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs spin around on a swing and miss for a strikeout. He continued to overpower hitters with his unique cutter to get soft groundouts and double plays.
Takeaways from Reds vs. Phillies
1. Ashcraft set the tone for his start with a sequence in the first inning. The Phillies opened the game with a double and a walk. After getting Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to strike out, Ashcraft got Castellanos to whiff at three pitches. After starting him out with a slider and mixing in a cutter, Ashcraft finished the strikeout with a slider in the dirt that Castellanos whiffed at.
Reds pitching What it meant for Reds' Derek Johnson to see his mentee coach the Phillies to an NL title
Reds starting rotation 'I'm just a better pitcher now': Nick Lodolo shows his maturity in start against Phillies
Reds starting rotation One year after MLB debut, Hunter Greene shows what he learned against Atlanta
2. Right after fouling a ball off his left foot and getting looked at by the team trainer, Reds second baseman Jonathan India smoked a double down the left field line. India improved his batting average to .327 with the hit, a sign of how well his offseason adjustments have been working. After losing weight, gaining speed and dedicating himself to an on-base approach at the plate, India is playing the best baseball of his career. He reached base in each of his first three plate appearances against the Phillies, and he continues to set the table at the top of the order.
3. Reds shortstop Jose Barrero committed an error in the fifth inning that could have led to the Phillies’ first run of the game, but the Reds’ defense backed him up. Barrero dropped a routine ground ball with two outs, and he made an ill-advised and off-target throw that went past India. Myers backed up the throw, quickly recovered the ball and threw back to second to tag out Phillies shortstop Trea Turner.
Stat of the day
The Reds won their sixth game of the season on Saturday. Last year, they didn’t win their sixth game of the season until May 9, which was the 29th game of the season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Wil Myers hit his first two homers as a Red in win over Phillies
