Elly De La Cruz had three hits and drove in two runs as the Cincinnati Reds easily defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-2 on Saturday night.
Jonathan India and TJ Friedl also contributed with two hits each for the Reds, who won against the Pirates for only the third time in nine games this season.
De La Cruz had an RBI single in the fifth inning and a run-scoring double in the sixth. The 6-foot-5 shortstop increased his stolen base total to a major league-leading 61 by stealing second base after a walk in the first inning. He later scored on a single by Stephenson during a four-run rally against Jake Woodford (0-6).
“The style of play, I think, is exactly what we want,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Always playing hard. It was nice for it to work out. Aggressive baserunning. Big at-bats offensively, it was a good game.”
Rookie Julian Aguiar (1-0) allowed two runs in six innings to earn his first career win. The 23-year-old right-hander, who was Cincinnati’s minor league Pitcher of the Year in 2023, struck out four batters and walked two in his second start since being called up to support the Reds’ injury-hit pitching staff.
“My mentality wasn’t to come up here and think ‘I’m going to be here for a week,’” Aguiar said. “It’s ‘Come take a spot.’”
Casey Kelly, who was recalled from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday, pitched three innings for his first career save. It was his first major league appearance since 2018.
Rowdy Tellez hit his 11th home run of the season for the Pirates. The towering shot off Aguiar reached the Allegheny River, becoming the 80th ball to splash into the water.
