A Cincinnati Reds shortstop had a big night Tuesday as the Reds shut out the Atlanta Braves 4-0 at Truist Park. It was one of Cincinnati’s best games of the season, even though the team is already out of playoff contention.
He got things going early, stealing his 29th base of the season in the first inning. Then in the third inning he hit a two-out home run off Braves rookie pitcher JR Ritchie. That gave the Reds a 1-0 lead and it was his 29th homer of the year too, putting him just one shy of a rare 30-30 season.
That player is Elly De La Cruz. Only three players in Reds history have ever hit 30 homers and stolen 30 bases in the same season. Eric Davis did it in 1987, Barry Larkin in 1996 and Brandon Phillips in 2007. With one week left in the season, De La Cruz has a real shot at joining them.
Pitcher Brandon Williamson also had a great outing for Cincinnati. He pitched six strong innings, only allowed one run and struck out a career-high eight batters. It was a nice finish to a solid September for him as he tries to earn a permanent spot in the Reds rotation.
The offense did not stop with De La Cruz. Dane Myers and Eugenio Suárez also hit home runs. Suárez’s homer was the 350th of his career. De La Cruz added one more hit later in the game, a run-scoring single in the seventh inning.
There was a scary moment for Atlanta too. In the third inning, Ronald Acuna Jr fouled a ball off his own leg and fell to the ground in pain. He was checked on by his manager and a trainer before leaving the game. Thankfully, X-rays came back negative and he is just considered day to day. That is good news for the Braves since the playoffs start in about a week. Atlanta already secured the NL East title over the weekend, its seventh division win in the last nine years.
