The exciting top Cincinnati Reds prospect hit for the cycle on Friday night.
The stage was set for a historic night on Friday in Cincinnati. Loud, sold-out crowd, sharp City Connect uniforms, and two surging teams on long winning streaks. It felt like something important was going to happen and Elly De La Cruz provided the game's biggest highlight.
A Night to Remember
Elly De La Cruz was at the center of the Reds' 11-run effort, going 4/5 in total against Atlanta in the matchup. In his first at-bat, he triggered the Reds' comeback with the team's first hit of the game, a 117 mph (!!) double off the wall in right-center field. He scored on Jake Fraley's dinger that inning, making the score 5-2 Atlanta.
Elly came up again in the 3rd, smoking his third homer of his career. His two-run shot put the Reds down by only 1 run at 5-4.
In the 5th, he singled in Matt McLain to return the Reds to a 1-run deficit of 7-6, nabbing a stolen base before scoring on Joey Votto's second homer of the game.
EDLC came up to bat in the 6th inning just a triple shy of the cycle. The crowd was buzzing and Elly lived up to the moment, smacking a triple to the right-center gap to drive in Jonathan India and complete the Cycle, pushing the Reds score to 11, where it would remain.
He would fly out to center field in his final at-bat.
His final line:
4/5, 3 R, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, SB on his way to hitting for the Cycle.
A Historic Feat
Elly De La Cruz completed only the 10th Cycle in the Reds' long history. He is the 8th player to accomplish the feat for the club and the first since Eric Davis in 1989: making the last two Reds to hit for the Cycle wearers of number 44.
Here is the full list of Cycles in Cincinnati history:
Long John Reilly (2x in 1883, 1890)
Bid McPhee (1887)
Tom Parrott (1894)
Heinie Groh (1915)
Harry Craft (1940)
Frank Robinson (1959)
Eric Davis (1989)
Elly De La Cruz (2023)
Do not be shocked if Elly joins this list again in the near future!
The Reds face the Braves again Saturday in front of another sold-out crowd.
Comentários