Elly Amazes With First HR, Triple: ‘It’s Freaky’

The Reds defeated the Dodgers in a comeback, walk-off victory for the second straight night despite De La Cruz’s better performance in his second game. Wednesday saw Will Benson hit his first home run of the season to secure an 8-6 walk-off victory.

“This whole team has some kind of vibe,” Jorge Merlos served as De La Cruz’ interpreter. “a strong feeling of optimism. It has a little bit of the atmosphere of a World Series.”

In the minds of most people, that might be starting the rebuild process early. But take into account the fact that, since 2019, the Reds had dropped seven of their previous nine games against the Dodgers at Great American Ball Park before De La Cruz was called up on Tuesday. They’ve left Los Angeles in consecutive games since his arrival.

“He’s a special player,” Benson said. “Without a doubt, I can state that I have never played with a player of that caliber. I’ve competed against strong hitters like Elly. That is the most complete package I’ve ever seen. My own athletic ability is pretty good. It’s honestly weird to see that.”

De La Cruz smashed a 91.9 mph four-seam fastball from Noah Syndergaard to right in his first at-bat. The pitch continued to go, traveling 458 feet and coming inches from leaving the park. It was De La Cruz’s first home run in the Statcast era (since 2015), and it was the second-hardest ball hit by a batter in that time period.

“I knew that ball was gone after I hit it,” De La Cruz said. “I simply gave them the 4-4 after turning to face my teammates.”

De La Cruz smashed a 91.9 mph four-seam fastball from Noah Syndergaard to right in his first at-bat. The pitch continued to go, traveling 458 feet and coming inches from leaving the park. The second-hardest ball hit by a batter in the Statcast era (since 2015) left De La Cruz’s bat at 114.8 mph as he hit his first home run.

“I knew that ball was gone after I hit it,” De La Cruz said. “I simply gave my teammates the 4-4 while looking at them.”

The Reds fell behind twice, and De La Cruz participated in both comebacks. An at-bat after fellow rookie Matt McLain singled, he hit a home run to tie the score at 2.

Jonathan India’s sac fly allowed McLain to score after starting the third inning with a triple. Tyler Stephenson tied it with his fourth home run of the year, an opposite-field blast to right, after Spencer Steer had already followed De La Cruz’s triple with an RBI single.

Until Benson’s home run, it remained tied.

“We don’t give up,” Declared De La Cruz in English.

“You just want to watch Elly play the game,” David Bell, the Reds’ manager, said. “Nothing should be placed on him, per se. Nothing is labeled by him. He should be allowed to be Elly De La Cruz and do what he wants to do.

“He just has to do that. He is a wonderful young man who is very respectful. plays the game with passion. We’ll let him handle things on his own.”

Reference: www.mlb.com