Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Angels Box Score on Aug 22, 2023

Graham Ashcraft recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts over seven innings and Matt McLain homered in his return to Southern California as the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Ashcraft (7-8) earned his first win since July 30 by retiring the final 10 batters he faced, allowing three runs and five hits. Alexis Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth for his 34th save.

Angels star center fielder Mike Trout went 1-for-4 in his return after missing 38 games with a hamate fracture in his left hand.

Reds left fielder Spencer Steer doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth and made a running catch on Shohei Ohtani's slicing fly ball in foul territory in the eighth to help preserve the Cincinnati lead.

UCLA product McLain homered off Angels starter and loser Lucas Giolito (7-10) in the first to put the Reds up 1-0. But a pair of former Reds -- Brandon Drury and Mike Moustakas -- put the Angels on top 2-1 with back-to-back solo shots in the second.

Logan O'Hoppe homered in the fourth for a 3-1 Angels lead. It was the final hit off Ashcraft.

Giolito allowed four runs (one earned) over six innings and fell to 1-4 in five starts since coming over from the Chicago White Sox just before the trade deadline.

Elly De La Cruz stole second following a first-inning walk, giving him 20 steals and 10 home runs in just his 64th game of the season. The rookie phenom became the fastest player to reach those marks, breaking the record set by Barry Bonds, who accomplished the feat in 65 games in 1986.

De La Cruz's electrifying speed played a big role in Cincinnati's three-run, two-out rally in the fifth.

With runners on second and third, De La Cruz hit a routine grounder to another top-rated prospect, Angels first baseman and 2023 first-round pick Nolan Schanuel.

With De La Cruz sprinting down the line, Schanuel took his eyes off the ball, and it glanced off his glove for an error that allowed Will Benson and TJ Friedl to score to tie the game at 3-3.

Steer followed with a double down the left field line that scored De La Cruz.

--Field Level Media