Elly De La Cruz loomed large over the Cincinnati Reds’ series finale against the Atlanta Braves, for reasons both positive and concerning. Fortunately for Cincinnati, starting pitcher Nick Lodolo and Eugenio Suárez were sights for sore eyes.
Initially, De La Cruz was using his speed to impact the game in Cincinnati’s favor. He went 2-for-2 with a walk in his three at-bats. He also stole a base and scored twice in a 6-4 Reds win on May 31 that allowed the club to avoid being swept by Atlanta at Great American Ball Park.
Sam Moll got a groundout with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning to secure the victory, earning only his second career save.
Later, De La Cruz was top-of-mind but out of sight because he exited the contest with what was eventually announced as right hamstring tightness. In the fifth inning, De La Cruz hit a ball in the right-center field gap for what might have been an extra-base hit, but he pulled up as he turned through first base. There were audible gasps in the crowd when De La Cruz was then lifted from the game after a trainer and manager Terry Francona attended to him at first base.
After the game, Francona said De La Cruz was scheduled for a June 1 MRI at 9 a.m.
“He feels like he caught it before it did anything worse,” Francona said. “Saying that, we’re gonna get him scanned at nine in the morning and we’ll know more… Let’s kind of hope. He’s a pretty miraculous kid. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
Speaking through team interpreter and athletic trainer Tomas Vera, De La Cruz expressed optimism regarding his outlook.
“When I start running and when I was making the turn for first, I felt tightness in my hamstring and immediately I decide to stop because I felt like ‘if I keep going, this can get worse,'” De La Cruz said. “I don’t believe it’s something bad, I really don’t. Obviously, we’re going to see what the MRI says tomorrow but I don’t think it’s something really bad at this moment.”
De La Cruz joined a growing list of injury concerns for the Reds after two back-end relievers – Graham Ashcraft and Pierce Johnson – hit the 60-day and 15-day injured lists, respectively. Those developments arrived Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30.
Considering all that, Lodolo’s and Suárez’s contributions were most welcome. Lodolo relieved his bullpen with an outing of 6 2/3 innings, exiting in the seventh with a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Suárez homered for the first time since April 15, and made his contribution on a day when the Reds’ bats went punch for punch with the MLB-leading Braves, and then some.
JJ Bleday went 2-for-4 with two RBI doubles, PJ Higgins drove in a run on an RBI double and Suárez drove in two runs.
Ronald Acuña Jr., who homered four times in the series with two leadoff homers, made things interesting late with an RBI single in the ninth inning off reliever Tony Santillan. Lefty Moll entered the game with two outs to preserve the win for Cincinnati.
The Reds haven’t been swept at Great American Ball Park since August 2024 − a run of 41 consecutive series.
Cincinnati also avoided dropping to .500, improving to 30-28.
Many will now await to see what moves, if any, come following De La Cruz’s medical imaging.
“He’s the heart and soul of this team,” Bleday said. “When everyone thinks ‘Reds’ right now, they’re thinking Elly De La Cruz. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious on that end, so we’ve just got to hope and pray and see what happens, and regardless, just keep showing up right now and trying to win ball games.”
Next up for Reds | Kansas City Royals come to Cincinnati for three games
The Reds will look to start June on a positive note when the Kansas City Royals come to Great American Ball Park for a three-game set June 1-3.
The Royals are 22-37 and on a six-game losing streak following being swept by the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers. Kansas City is sitting fourth in the American League Central division.
Cincinnati is scheduled to start Chase Burns (7-1, 1.96 ERA), Andrew Abbott (4-3, 3.88 ERA) and Chris Paddack (0-7, 6.90 ERA) on June 1, June 2 and June 3, respectively. All three games are scheduled for a 7:10 p.m. first pitch.
Burns is scheduled to be opposed by Kansas City’s Luinder Avila (0-2, 5.06 ERA). Abbott is scheduled to face Noah Cameron (2-4, 4.61 ERA) and Paddack is scheduled to face Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.48 ERA).
Recapping the Reds’ long, injury-plagued May
The month of May was a taxing period for the Reds, and it was a grind for the team to maintain its competitive standing in the face of several key injuries.
“I think we’re good. We’ve had some injuries and what not, so hopefully we can get on top of those and they don’t impact us too much further,” Bleday said. “We’ve got guys coming back from a starting pitching standpoint, so if we can just kind of keep our heads down and keep doing what we’re doing and trusting the process, we’ve still got a lot of baseball to be played but I like where we are right now.”
The Reds won their 20th game on the final day of April, improving to 20-11. They held the top spot in the National League Central division at that point. After posting a 10-17 record in May, Cincinnati managed to stay just above .500 (30-28) but ended the month in last place in the Central.
Cincinnati went on an eight-game losing streak to begin May, and costly injuries came during that losing stretch, too. A four-game series against the Chicago Cubs during the losing streak also saw the Reds lose two of their most reliable pitchers in closer Emilio Pagán (hamstring strain) and starter Rhett Lowder (right shoulder).
Those injuries, and more that followed, will be issues to contend with as the calendar flips to June. With more information still to be learned about De La Cruz’s situation, any kind of absence for him could necessitate a call-up of Edwin Arroyo, the No. 3-ranked prospect in Cincinnati’s farm system. Arroyo has been the center of call-up speculation for weeks, and long before De La Cruz’s hamstring incident on the final day of the month.
As for the injured pitchers, Pagán was 50%-60% healed, according to the results of an MRI that Francona relayed to media members May 30. Lowder wasn’t back either, although he was set for a June 2 rehab outing with Louisville.
On May 29, Graham Ashcraft hit the 60-day injured list and Pierce Johnson went on the 15-day IL a day later. Johnson projected optimism about his outlook but his absence will still persist into mid-June.
The Reds’ bats had issues of their own. Matt McLain ended May with a .196 batting average, Tyler Stephenson posted a .199 mark, and TJ Friedl was hitting .181 while playing in six of the final 11 games in the month. Struggling Gold Glove-winning third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was hitting .142 prior to going on the 10-day IL on May 22 due to a bulging disc.
Cincinnati’s team batting average of .229 entering play on May 31 ranked No. 27 in MLB.
June will see the Reds play 26 games with 11 coming against NL Central division foes. Cincinnati is just 2-10 in games against divisional opponents and will begin their season series with the Milwaukee Brewers June 22-24 at Great American Ball Park, and continue it with four road games in Milwaukee June 29 through July 2.
After hosting the Royals, Cincinnati has a road trip that will take them to St. Louis and San Diego for three games apiece against the Cardinals and Padres (June 5-June 10), and later visits the New York Yankees (June 19-21) as one of the month’s marquee series.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds lose Elly De La Cruz mid-game, survive scary ninth to beat Braves
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
