The last time the Cincinnati Reds gave up 11 runs in an inning, like they did in the second inning Sunday in their 17-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox, David Bell was playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and drove in two runs with a groundout and a bases loaded walk.
The White Sox sent 14 batters to the plate in the decisive second inning against Graham Ashcraft and Casey Legumina. Seven consecutive batters reached base with two outs.
Luis Robert Jr., Hanser Alberto and Yasmani Grandal all reached base twice in the inning. Ashcraft admitted he was frustrated after he gave up a two-run homer to Alberto at the start of the inning.
“It was a 96-mph jammed home run,” Ashcraft said. “It pissed me off. That’s not an excuse. That’s where you got to get into the mental side of the game, not let the mental side take over. You have to get through it. It was one of those games that just didn’t go my way.”
Here’s a look inside the numbers from the 11-run inning and the Reds’ 17-4 loss:
1. It’s been just over one year since Reds pitchers gave up 17 runs in a game. The Reds lost 18-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers on May 4, 2022.
2: The Reds hit four solo home runs in Sunday’s loss. It was the second time since at least 1901 the Reds hit four homers in a game and still lost by at least 10 runs, according to Bally Sports statistician Joel Luckhaupt. The other instance was an 18-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 5, 1965, with four homers.
8: Ashcraft was charged with eight runs in the second inning, matching the number of runs he allowed across his first six starts of the season. It was the first time a Reds pitcher surrendered eight runs in an inning since Luis Cessa was tagged for nine runs in the first inning of his start on April 16 against the Phillies.
15: The White Sox hadn’t scored 11 runs in an inning in 15 years, an 11-run fifth inning in a win over the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 17, 2007.
20: The last time the Reds gave up 11 runs in an inning was April 13, 2003, in a 13-1 loss to the Phillies. Ryan Dempster and Scott Sullivan were the two pitchers in the inning. Bell, 20 years ago, was a part of the inning that featured seven walks, four singles, one double and one homer (Ricky Ledee).
39: Ashcraft threw 39 pitches in the inning before he was replaced by Legumina. Bell, like most managers, has an unwritten rule about not letting pitchers throw more than 35-40 pitches in an inning for health reasons. Ashcraft tried to talk his way into staying on the mound: “I love my bullpen. I don’t want to do that to them. I want to give them as much of a day off as I can. It’s just one of those games where I needed their help.”
70: The 11 runs in the second inning were tied for the third-most runs scored in an inning in White Sox history. The last time they scored more than 11 runs in an inning was 70 years ago, a 12-run inning against the Philadelphia Athletics on June 10, 1952.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Inside the Cincinnati Reds’ historic loss, second inning vs. White Sox