Elly De La Cruz was making a highlight reel on Tuesday night, showing off both at the plate and in the field as he drove in four runs to help lead the Cincinnati Reds to victory. Along with outstanding pitching from Chase Burns and the bullpen, Cincinnati’s 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies kept the 1st place club rolling in the series opener.
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than to be good, or so the saying goes. In the bottom of the 1st inning that’s what helped the Reds take the lead. After Dane Myers led off the inning with a walk he scored on a bloop hit by Elly De La Cruz that landed between two Rockies defenders in shallow right before they then slightly bumped into each other to allow Myers to score easily. De La Cruz would then come around to score on a 2-out 2-run home run by Spencer Steer that made it 3-0.
Chase Burns worked around a baserunner in each of the first two innings. He gave up a hit in the 3rd inning but this one was a solo home run from Edouard Julien that got Colorado on the board. In the bottom of the inning it was once again Dane Myers getting something started, this time with a single and then he would steal second base. Elly De La Cruz once again drove him in, but this time he lined one back up the middle and almost took out Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland in the process.
The Rockies would would threaten again in the top of the 5th inning when Jake McCarthy picked up a 1-out single and then stole second base. That set up Edouard Julien for an RBI opportunity and he came through with an RBI single into center to cut the lead down to 4-2. In the 6th they would get another chance after a leadoff single and a 1-out double put two men in scoring position. Manager Terry Francona stayed with Chase Burns and it paid off as he get out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly out to shallow right field to hold onto the 2-run lead.
Graham Ashcraft took over for the home team in the 7th inning. After getting the first out of the inning on a grounder he gave up back-to-back singles. Hunter Goodman hit another grounder to follow and the ball took a funny hop on Elly De La Cruz, but he quickly adjusted and snagged it before flipping to second to help turn an inning-ending double play.
Colorado wasn’t rolling over. After Tony Santillan retired the first two batters of the 8th inning he walked the third hitter and then Kyle Karros singled into right field to put two men on and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Santillan locked in, though, and struck out Ezequiel Tovar to end the inning and strand both runners.
Cincinnati would give their bullpen some breathing room in the bottom of the 8th inning. And it was the same two guys who had been getting it done all night doing it once again. Dane Myers led off with a single on a bunt to third base. He then scored when Elly De La Cruz hit an opposite field home run to make it 6-2. They weren’t done there, though. Sal Stewart followed up with a ground-rule double and later scored on a single from Nathaniel Lowe that pushed the Reds lead to 7-2.
With a 5-run lead heading to the top of the 9th inning the game was turned over to Brock Burke. He would give up a leadoff single before picking up a strikeout on a challenged call by Tyler Stephenson. The lefty then got a pop up on the next pitch. Burke then finished off the game with a strikeout of Hunter Goodman as he deals the team’s 19th win of the year.
Key Moment of the Game
The 2-run home run by Elly De La Cruz in the 8th inning. A 2-run lead in Great American Ball Park never feels safe and turning that into a 4-run lead put a stamp on the win.
Notes Worth Noting
Dane Myers, Elly De La Cruz, and Nathaniel Lowe all had multi-hit games.
Elly De La Cruz homered for the 10th time this season. John Sadak mentioned on the broadcast that the 10 home runs are tied for the most by a switch hitter before May (Cal Raleigh – last year). He also stole two bases in the game to give him the team lead with eight on the years.
Chase Burns picked up nine strikeouts on the evening. He now had a 2.65 ERA through six starts this season to go along with 12 walks and 39 strikeouts in his 34.0 innings pitched.
The bullpen didn’t allow a run in their three innings of work. Graham Ashcraft (1.20 ERA), Tony Santillan (2.13 ERA), and Brock Burke (0.63 ERA) all lowered their ERA with their shutout inning as the bullpen at large continues to just lock teams down.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday April 29th, 6:40pm ET
Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1, 3.42 ERA) vs Brandon Williamson (2-2, 5.40 ERA)