NEW YORK — Graham Ashcraft and the Cincinnati Reds won a duel with the New York Yankees even before completing their three-game sweep.
As the national anthem ended before Thursday's game, Ashcraft and fellow Reds pitcher Carson Spiers stood in front of the visitors' dugout on the third-base side of Yankee Stadium, while New York pitchers Ian Hamilton and Cody Poteet held out on the first-base side.
The duel lasted more than five minutes as players ignored umpires' gestures ordering them to leave the field so play could begin. Ashcraft won the battle, pumping his fist and receiving claps and cheers from his teammates as he outran his Yankees counterparts before the Reds' 8-4 victory Thursday.
“That set the tone, too,” said Spencer Steer, whose three-run homer in the fifth inning gave Cincinnati a 5-0 lead.
Never back down, never what? image.twitter.com/gPE0YWf0CX
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 4, 2024
Steer praised Ashcraft, using the pitcher's first name, Douglas.
“It was amazing that Doug won that game for us and gave us a small lead before the first pitch,” Steer said.
The four players ignored head umpire Alan Porter, who made an ejection gesture with both hands. Porter then sent third base umpire Jim Wolf to remove them from the field.
“Lucas Sims didn't have a cap, so he took mine, he didn't want to be standing there with no cap on on the Fourth of July,” Spiers said, referring to another Reds pitcher. “So me being a rookie, I was standing there with no cap, whatever, looking silly. And then as it was winding down, Sims told me, 'Spiers, you have to stay here until the last one.' So I said, OK, whatever. I'll stay. Sure enough, his guys stayed, too. So I was like, 'Oh God, here I go. It's like I'm staying for the long haul.' And I saw Graham slide in with me, and it was a long road from there.”
They got a brief respite when Porter returned to the umpires' clubhouse to retrieve a shin guard. Because he was a rookie making the minimum salary of $740,000, Spiers decided to take off his clothes first.
“Thinking about the fine and knowing I couldn't pay it, I made a business decision,” he said.
The New York pitchers, both on the injured list, eventually walked off after manager Aaron Boone motioned for them to leave.
“I guess there's a bit of competition within the game,” Poteet said. “It's probably the first one I've ever been in, but it took me until the very last moment, as the game was getting closer to the start.”
Ashcraft, in his third major league season, is on a slightly higher salary of $750,000. He started and won the series opener on Tuesday and was not scheduled to pitch in Thursday's game.
“We saw they weren't moving and one of the guys told Carson to stay, and I said, 'I'm staying with you because I'm not moving,'” Ashcraft said. “'I don't have anything to do today. I'm staying until I win or get ejected or both.'”
