Rookie Ellie De La Cruz made an impact with her speed, hitting two hits and reaching base four times, as well as scoring the go-ahead run with a diving head-first groundout in the eighth inning that led to the Reds’ win. Cincinnati is up 4-3 against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
De La Cruz singled to the infield in the first inning, and the 21-year-old tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single in the third off 41-year-old Adam Wainwright.
The Dominican drew a walk in the sixth, stole second and scored on Tyler Stephenson’s single to tie the score at 3-3. In the eighth, De La Cruz walked Jordan Hicks (1-4) on a full count, advanced on Spencer Steer’s groundout and reached third on Willson Contreras’ passed ball.
De La Cruz is batting .364 (8-for-22), with five walks, three stolen bases and a .481 on-base percentage in his first six games Tuesday. He has a double, a triple and a home run with four RBIs.
For the Reds, Dominican Ellie de la Cruz went 3-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.
For the Cardinals, Venezuelan Wilson Contreras hit a home run to make it 3-0.
