Elly De La Cruz moved closer to joining the 30-30 club as the Cincinnati Reds shut out the Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Tuesday night. De La Cruz stole his 29th base in the first inning, launched his 29th home run in the third, and added a run-scoring single in the seventh to power the Reds past the NL East champions.
Brandon Williamson delivered six sharp innings, allowing just three hits, no walks, and striking out two over 68 pitches. The rookie’s outing was a rare strong performance in a season marked by injuries and bullpen appearances. Cincinnati’s bullpen trio of Brock Burke, Tejay Antone, and Emilio Pagán each threw a scoreless inning to close out the seven-hitter.
De La Cruz’s home run came with two outs against Braves rookie JR Ritchie, who struck out eight batters over five innings but took the loss despite allowing only one run. Dane Myers and Eugenio Suárez also homered for the Reds. Suárez reached a career milestone with his 350th home run.
The Braves were dealt a scare when slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. exited the game in the third inning after fouling a ball off his left leg. Acuña grimaced in pain, hobbled out of the batter’s box, and collapsed to his knees while being attended to by manager Walt Weiss and the team’s athletic trainer. X-rays came back negative, and Acuña was listed as day-to-day, offering some relief as the playoffs approach in just over a week.
De La Cruz’s stolen base and homer bring him within striking distance of the 30-30 club, a feat achieved by only three Reds players before him: Eric Davis in 1987, Barry Larkin in 1996, and Brandon Phillips in 2007. The final week of the regular season offers De La Cruz a chance to join this exclusive group.
The Braves secured their seventh NL East title in nine years on Sunday and are expected to host a best-of-three wild card series next week against the lowest-seeded wild card team. Atlanta will send left-hander Chris Sale to the mound on Wednesday night for his final start before the playoffs. Sale (14-9, 2.18 ERA) will face Reds lefty Andrew Abbott (6-11, 4.70) in what could be a preview of postseason pitching matchups.
According to Yahoo Sports.