Infielder Elly De La Cruz led the Cincinnati Reds to a 10-8 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night. He had a spectacular display that led to the Reds’ sixth victory in ten games, collecting three hits, two home runs, and a stolen base.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, De La Cruz batted from the left side of home plate and sent J.B. Bukauskas’s pitch 450 feet away from home plate for his first home run. An inning later, he stole third base, increasing his tally to six.
ELLY DE LA CRUZ INSIDE-THE-PARK HOMER pic.twitter.com/PGKKnfmvaQ
— MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2024
He’s just getting started because he added to his highlight reel with an inside-the-park home run in the seventh inning. De La Cruz sent a pitch by Bryan Hudson to center field, but outfielder Sal Frelick played him deep. The ball dropped in front of him and rolled further into the outfield.
De La Cruz completed the inside-the-park home run in 14.96 seconds and finished the run with a dive to home plate.
It’s a dash for history as safely reaching home plate made him the first MLB player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate, score four runs, register a stolen base, and complete over-the-fence and inside-the-park home runs in the same game.
Through ten games, De La Cruz is batting .297/.366/.595 with 11 hits, two home runs and five RBIs. The Reds and the Brewers will rematch on April 9 at 6:40 p.m. Eastern Time.
-Lance Fernandez