Elly De La Cruz hit his first two home runs of the season, one of which was a huge 450-foot solo shot, and the other was a liner that turned into his first inside-the-park homer. This helped the Cincinnati Reds secure a 10-8 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.
De La Cruz got three hits and scored four times, while Will Benson also hit a home run for the Reds, and Spencer Steer had two RBIs. “It’s amazing to see Elly perform like this after all the hard work he’s put in,” said Reds manager David Bell.
The Reds had a big lead of 8-0 after four innings and 9-3 after five. However, the Brewers almost came back for a surprising win. Milwaukee’s Brice Turang hit a two-run homer and a two-run double, and Christian Yelich’s two-run shot got the Brewers close in the seventh.
In the ninth inning, with the Brewers trailing 10-8, they had runners on the corners with two outs. But Alexis Díaz got his second save when he retired Rhys Hoskins on a fly ball to right. Milwaukee third baseman Joey Ortiz made two errors, leading to four unearned runs for Cincinnati.
De La Cruz’s fifth-inning homer gave Cincinnati a 9-3 lead, and his inside-the-park homer in the seventh added to the excitement. “I enjoyed running around the bases more than hitting the ball out,” De La Cruz said. “When I saw him miss the ball, I knew I was going home.”
Benson’s homer in the second inning gave Cincinnati a 2-0 lead, and he added an RBI double in the fourth inning. Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby was charged with eight runs, four earned, in his first start of the year. Cincinnati’s Graham Ashcraft shut out Milwaukee for the first four innings but gave up six runs later in the game.
Stuart Fairchild made a crucial catch in right field, robbing Willy Adames of a home run in the sixth inning, and also walked twice and scored a run.
