Elly De La Cruz homered for the Reds on Sunday, but he provided all of the offense for Cincinnati and it wasn’t enough. The Chicago Cubs utilized a big 4th inning to take the lead and they never looked back in a 7-3 victory that helped them pick up a series win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (29-31) | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Chicago Cubs (37-22) | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Taillon (5-3) L: Martinez (3-6) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Martinez worked himself out of some trouble in both the 1st and 2nd innings on Sunday afternoon. But the third time was a charm for the Cubs. Kyle Tucker hit a double into the ivy in right field to get the rally started. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled in Tucker to put Chicago up 1-0. Dansby Swanson followed up with an RBI double. That led to a meeting on the mound. Whatever was said didn’t work because Michael Busch took the second pitch of his at-bat and hit it into the seats for a 2-run home run to extend the lead to 4-0.
Jameson Taillon was cruising through the Reds order and had kept them off of the board through the top of the 5th inning. Chicago’s offense went to work in the bottom of the inning with Pete Crow-Armstrong picking up a 1-out single against Nick Martinez and then stealing second base. With two outs in the inning the Reds called on Brent Suter from the bullpen to come in and get a lefty-lefty match up against Michael Busch. The plan didn’t work in Cincinnati’s favor as he singled into center to bring in a run and make it a 5-0 ballgame.
In the top of the 6th inning the Reds got a 2-out walk from Santiago Espinal. Elly De La Cruz worked a full count against Jameson Taillon before getting a 92 MPH fastball on the inside part of the plate and turning on it with a fury. The ball left his bat at 117 MPH and landed out on Sheffield Avenue for a 2-run home run to get Cincinnati on the board.
Lyon Richardson entered the game in the 7th inning and his defense let him down as Santiago Espinal and Will Benson made error on back-to-back plays to start the inning, leading to runners on second and third base with no outs. The Cubs cashed in one of those runners with an RBI single from Nico Hoerner that made it 7-2.
The Reds would get a run in the 9th inning after Elly De La Cruz walked and then came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Tyler Stephenson. That was all that they’d get, though, as Chicago held on for a 7-3 victory that also gave them a series win over Cincinnati.
Key Moment of the Game
Michael Busch’s 2-run home run in the 5th inning that really put the game out of reach for Cincinnati.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz hit his 12th home run of the season in this game. No combination of two other Reds hitters can top that number. The home run was his 50th of his career.
De La Cruz had two hits and a walk on the day. So did the rest of the team.
Cincinnati is now 1-4-1 in series against divisional opponents this season.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds
Monday, June 2nd, 7:10pm ET
Aaron Civale (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs Brady Singer (6-3, 4.60 ERA)
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