Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds started their four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers with an exciting game on Monday. They are looking to carry that momentum into Tuesday’s game.
The Reds initially had an 8-0 lead after four innings but had to rely on two home runs from De La Cruz, one of which was an inside-the-park homer, to secure a 10-8 victory over the Brewers.
Despite the Brewers scoring three runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, and two in the seventh to narrow the gap to one, the Reds managed to hold on for the win.
De La Cruz’s Inside-the-Park Home Run
De La Cruz circled the bases to score his first inside-the-park home run of his career, shifting the momentum back in favor of Cincinnati.
“It was an exciting play and all that, but it was a big run in that game because there’s no question, you can feel it, momentum, and they had it at that point,” Reds manager David Bell said. “And that slows it up just enough to where our bullpen was able to hold them off from there.”
Past Matchups and Future Hopes
The Brewers emerged victorious in 10 out of the 13 matchups in 2023, with six wins in Cincinnati. The Reds fell just short of making the postseason by two games. Despite the recent loss, Milwaukee has a strong record of 35-15 in their last 50 games in Cincinnati since 2018. The Reds have high hopes for the upcoming season as they aim to surpass the Brewers and claim the top spot in the NL Central.
“We’ve put in a lot of work and we’re ready to go to the World Series,” De La Cruz said after Monday’s game.
Brewers’ Road Trip
The Brewers, under the leadership of new manager Pat Murphy, achieved a strong start by winning six out of their first eight games. However, they began a seven-game road trip with a loss on Monday. Following three games in Cincinnati, they will play three games in Baltimore.
Despite facing an eight-run deficit and committing three errors that resulted in four unearned runs, the Brewers were only trailing by one run before the bottom of the seventh inning.
“There’s no question, I like the guys in the room,” Murphy said. “I like the way they respond. That’s a good team across the way. You can’t give them that much rope. We really have played incredible defense up until this point. We didn’t have a good night there. That’s going to happen. We put ourselves in position to come back. It just wasn’t enough.”
Pitchers for the Next Game
The Reds will have Frankie Montas (2-0, 0.77 ERA) on the mound for the second game of the series. Montas has been impressive in his first two starts with Cincinnati, allowing only one run on nine hits in 11 2/3 innings.
He earned his second win last Wednesday in Philadelphia, giving up one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. This will be Montas’ second career appearance against Milwaukee, with his first one resulting in a no-decision in 2022. However, on the other side, the Brewers will start Joe Ross (0-0, 0.00) for his second start of the season.
Ross pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut with Milwaukee, but walked five batters in a no-decision against the Twins. When facing Cincinnati in the past, Ross has a 2-0 record with a 2.35 ERA in four starts with Washington at Nationals Park.
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