Ashcraft struck out four Cardinals hitters on Thursday, throwing an emphatic 26 of his 31 pitches for strikes. Having now appeared in 12 games on the season, Ashcraft's ERA is down to 0.57. He also has 17 strikeouts against just seven walks in 15 2/3 innings pitched.

An inning to forget from Reds reliever Alexis Diaz quashed reasonable hopes of a comeback. The St. Louis Cardinals tied the four-game series.

After the Tuesday game was rained out and a doubleheader played Wednesday, Thursday's 12:40 p.m. game entered a rain delay with the Reds leading 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park. Andrew Abbott started the game for the Reds. Matthew Liberatore was the starter for the Cardinals.