De La Cruz propels Reds to 10th straight win, longest streak since '12

June 21st, 2023

CINCINNATI -- Things are going so well for the Reds these days -- and has so much power -- that the rookie can mishit a pitch and it still clears the fence.

"It’s like we’re floating in the wind. Of course, things like that are happening to us," De La Cruz said via interpreter Jorge Merlos.

The club's top prospect, De La Cruz had three hits. TJ Friedl had a career-high four hits. De La Cruz, Friedl and Will Benson all went deep in an 8-6 win over the Rockies at Great American Ball Park that extended first-place Cincinnati's winning streak to 10 games. It's the club's longest streak since 2012, which is also the last time the Reds won the National League Central.

Colorado was leading, 1-0, on Nolan Jones' homer against Reds starter Ben Lively before the offense responded to give the club its 24th comeback victory – tied for most in MLB.

There were two outs in the bottom of the second inning when Rockies starter Noah Davis issued walks to the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Benson and Curt Casali. On a 1-0 sinker, Friedl lifted a three-run homer to right-center field and the Reds never looked back.

"Everyone has that mentality…it's a different person every night," Friedl said. "It's not just one guy that you hope is going to get that hit, it's every single person one-through-nine or comes off the bench with a big pinch hit, it's everyone and it's incredible and it's contagious."

With one out in the bottom of the third, De La Cruz swung at Davis' first-pitch sinker and sent it the opposite way to left field. The ball hit off the top edge of the barrel but carried just enough into the first row of seats.

"Even before he came up, I'd seen videos of that all over. Him mis-hitting balls," Friedl said. "He's doing it in BP all day. We hit a velo machine early and he was putting balls backside like that with ease. So when he hit that ball today, in my mind, I was like, 'That's got a good chance of getting out.' And obviously it did. He's incredible."

It was De La Cruz's second big league homer and his first since June 7 -- his second game.

"I didn’t hit it well," De La Cruz said. "It looked like there was a chance, which is why I had to keep running as fast as I did. I knew if it didn’t go [out], I’d have to make it to second or third. I’m glad it did."

De La Cruz's speed helped in the fifth inning against reliever Peter Lambert. He hit a one-out comebacker at 101.5 mph off the pitcher and had a single but Lambert's errant throw allowed De La Cruz to motor to second base. Lambert's errant pickoff to second base gave De La Cruz third base and he scored easily on Jake Fraley's RBI double.

"When I got to first base, I was like, 'All right, let’s keep running,'" De La Cruz said. "Causing things to happen on the field is what you have to do if you’re going to get some type of momentum."

De La Cruz kept hitting, notching a double to left field in the bottom of the 7th with the Reds ahead, 8-2.

"He's a talented player. We know going in that's part of his game," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "And we game plan for that, right? You never know where the ball's going to be hit, but you do know that when it's hit, you have to defensively react. So there's no surprises that he's fast, there's no surprises that he's talented."

Lambert's third throwing error of the inning trying to pick off Fraley went into center field, allowing another run to score. Benson made it a six-run game with his leadoff homer to right-center field in the sixth inning.

De La Cruz, 21, is batting .308 with an .898 OPS in his 13 games for Cincinnati, including a four-game hitting streak. The Reds are 11-2 since his June 6 promotion from Triple-A Louisville and the electricity he's brought has been palpable since his arrival.

But it's not just because of De La Cruz. The 28,291 fans at GABP were loud throughout Tuesday, appreciating the winning streak and the chance to contend for the postseason.

At 39-35, the Reds kept their half-game lead over the second-place Brewers in the division.

"It’s been a great run, for sure," Reds manager David Bell said. "Now that we’ve experienced what it feels like, we want to keep it going. It’s more motivational than anything just to keep getting better and keep going."