NEW YORK — Graham Ashcraft and the Cincinnati Reds won a contest with the New York Yankees even before finishing the 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 at third base at Yankee Stadium, while New York pitchers Ian Hamilton and Cody Poteet held out at first base. side.
The confrontation lasted for more than five minutes, while the players ignored the referees’ gestures instructing them to vacate the field so the game could begin. Ashcroft won the battle, clenching his fist and receiving high fives and applause from teammates as he outlasted his Yankees counterparts before the Reds win 8-4 Thursday.
“That also set the tone,” said Spencer Steer, whose three-run homer in the fifth inning gave Cincinnati a 5-0 lead.
Steer praised Ashcraft, using the pitcher’s first name, Douglas.
“It was awesome of Doug to just win that one for us and give us a little lead before the first pitch,” Steer said.
All four players ignored referee Alan Porter, who made a shooing motion with both hands. Porter then dispatched third base umpire Jim Wolf to urge them off the field.
“Lucas Sims didn’t have a hat there, so he took my hat, I didn’t want to be there without a hat on the Fourth of July,” Spiers said, referring to another Reds pitcher. “So, being a newbie, I was there with my hat off, whatever, looking stupid. And then, as the thing was ending, Sims said, ‘Spiers, you’ve got to stay here until the last one.’ So I thought, okay, whatever. I will stay. Sure enough, their guys stayed too. So I thought, oh God, here I come. Like, I’ve been at this for a long time. And I saw Graham kind of slide with me, and from there it was a long road.”
They got a brief reprieve when Porter returned to the referees’ clubhouse to retrieve a shin guard. Being a rookie earning the minimum of $740,000, Spiers decided to quit first.
“Thinking about the fine and knowing I wouldn’t be able to pay,” he said. “So I just made a business decision.”
New York’s pitchers, both on the injured list, finally left after manager Aaron Boone motioned for them to leave.
“A little bit of competition within the game, I guess,” Poteet said. “That’s probably the first one I’ve been a part of, but it lasted all the way until the last part where it’s getting closer to the start of the game.”
Ashcraft, in his third major league season, has a slightly higher salary of $750,000. He started and got the victory in the series opener on Tuesday and would not 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 going to stay with you because I’m not going to move,'” Ashcraft said. “`I don’t have anything to do today. I’m going to stay until win or be expelled or both.'”
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