Reds’ De La Cruz’s has 4 hits, career-high 7 RBIs with torpedo bat in win over Rangers
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz used a torpedo bat for a game for the first time on Monday night. He hit his first two homers of the season and finished with a career-high seven RBIs in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz used a torpedo bat for a game for the first time on Monday night. He hit his first two homers of the season and finished with a career-high seven RBIs in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.
The 23-year-old De La Cruz said the torpedo bat felt good. Asked if he planned to use it again after his performance, he just laughed in response.
He ultimately finished the game with a single, double and two home runs as Brady Singer pitched seven scoreless innings in his Cincinnati debut in the rout of the Rangers.
De La Cruz said that Monday was his first time trying out the new bat that is all the rage across MLB to start the season.
“I just wanted to know if it feels good,” he said about why he made the change. “And it definitely does.”
“(The torpedo bats were) talked about in spring training, but I didn’t really use it until today.”
Singer, who was acquired in November from the Kansas City Royals, became the first Reds pitcher with seven-plus scoreless innings in a debut since Tom Seaver on June 18, 1977, against Montreal. The 28-year-old right-hander struck out eight, walked two and allowed one hit.
De La Cruz hit a three-run home run to centre for a 6-0 lead in the second inning. It was his first homer of the season. He added a two-run shot in the seventh.
“I think it’s more the player than the bat,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the game.
The Reds (2-2) batted around in the sixth to double their lead to 12-0. The 14 runs were Cincinnati’s most since a 19-2 victory over St. Louis on Sept. 29, 2023.
Rookie Kumar Rocke allowed six earned runs in three innings for Texas (3-2). Jake Burger hit his first home run for the Rangers in the ninth.
Cincinnati first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand was hit by a pitch on the wrist in the sixth. He stayed in the dugout for the seventh.
Key moment
Matt McLain, who missed the 2024 season with a shoulder injury, hit his third home run of the season to give Cincinnati a 2-0 lead in the first. Gavin Lux added an RBI double for the Reds’ fourth straight hit to start the game and a 3-0 lead.
Key stat
Cincinnati entered as one of two teams without a steal attempt this season before De La Cruz’s broke the streak in the first inning.
Up next
The series resumes Tuesday when the Reds send right-hander Carson Spiers against RHP Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 3.00 ERA), who is coming off his second opening-day start in a row for Texas.
— With files from Sportsnet Staff
