Cruz control: Elly wraps 1st series with infield hit, steal vs. Kershaw

CINCINNATI — It was a Thursday afternoon that noticed the burgeoning famous person face the longer term Hall of Famer.

Reds rookie switch-hitter Elly De La Cruz‘s first foray as a right-handed hitter within the massive leagues got here towards the Dodgers’ nice left-hander, Clayton Kershaw. Even although De La Cruz was challenged by Kershaw throughout Cincinnati’s 6-0 loss to Los Angeles, De La Cruz nonetheless capped his first collection with an infield hit to complete 4-for-11 with two walks in three video games.

“That was good. He has such a long way to go,” Reds supervisor David Bell mentioned. “I know we’ll be talking about him a lot, but that’s a great start. It’s good that it was here in Cincinnati.”

During the second inning of his 1-for-4 day, De La Cruz softly grounded a 1-0 Kershaw fastball to the left aspect of second base. As the 21-year-old jetted his strategy to first, second baseman Miguel Vargas rushed a desperation throw.

“I knew I had that all the way,” De La Cruz said via translator Jorge Merlos. “I knew that I just had to run hard and get to first base.”

There was no probability for Vargas to throw out De La Cruz, who reached with an infield single. The Dodgers have been lucky Vargas’ wild throw did not go into the Cincinnati dugout to offer De La Cruz second base.

Two batters later, De La Cruz took it anyway.

As Tyler Stephenson batted and checked out an 0-1 curveball, De La Cruz bolted for second base and took it simply with a headfirst slide forward of catcher Austin Barnes’ off-target throw.

That made De La Cruz the second participant in Major League historical past to gather a house run, a triple, a double, a single and a stolen base in his first three video games. The solely different time that was achieved was in 1953 by Bill Bruton of the Milwaukee Braves.

“What can I say? You just put all of your work in and try to see if it works out,” De La Cruz said of his first series. “You just come out the next day and try to improve from the previous day.”

De La Cruz’s remaining three plate appearances resulted in strikeouts, together with two towards Kershaw. In the fourth inning, he foul-tipped an 87 mph slider into Barnes’ glove.

In the underside of the sixth inning, with runners on the corners, De La Cruz took a pair of referred to as strikes earlier than placing out on a 74 mph curveball within the filth. He was method out in entrance together with his swing.

“I was looking for something up in the zone,” De La Cruz said of his overall approach against Kershaw. “Obviously, he has a lot of pitches that he knows how to throw well, and he was executing them well. But hopefully, I can execute my swings better.”

The Reds nonetheless had their third collection win of their final 4. There was a noticeable enhance in electrical energy within the environment from followers at Great American Ball Park. While De La Cruz is partly accountable, there have been additionally two massive comebacks for walk-off wins within the first two video games towards Los Angeles.

“That is something we notice and appreciate,” Bell mentioned. “It’s something we can use to our advantage. Everyone loves being a part of an energetic experience.”

Now the Reds will attempt to carry their momentum by means of a 10-day, nine-game highway journey by means of St. Louis, Kansas City and Houston.

It’s the primary time that the De La Cruz present goes on the highway, too. Cincinnati has actually gotten a lift from its No. 1 prospect this week, however the journey will probably be a bigger take a look at for the surging third-place Reds, who’ve gone 22-19 since April 24.

Cincinnati, which is tied for second in MLB with 19 comeback victories and tied with three groups with probably the most walk-off wins (5), has gotten contributions all through its lineup — particularly its youthful gamers.

“We’re at the very beginning of this,” Bell mentioned. “One of the things that happens when you’re a good team is you show up to the ballpark and you really have this feeling that you’re going to win the game. You don’t know exactly how, but a lot of times, it’s somebody different every day. That’s a great feeling.”