De La Cruz's cycle lifts Reds to 12th straight win
CINCINNATI — Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz became the youngest Major League Baseball player to hit for the cycle in 51 years as Cincinnati extended its win streak to 12 games with an 11-10 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
De La Cruz, 21, doubled to open the second inning, had a two-run homer in the third, a run-scoring single to center in the fifth and tripled in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the night. The last hit increased the Reds’ lead to 11-7.
He became the youngest player to hit for the cycle since Houston’s César Cedeño in 1972, according to ESPN Stats & Information. De La Cruz is also the third player since 1901 to hit for the cycle within his first 15 career games.
The cycle was the seventh in team history, fifth since 1900 and first since Eric Davis accomplished the feat against San Diego on June 2, 1989.
De La Cruz wears the same No. 44 that Davis did.
“I can’t really put it into words right now,” De La Cruz said through a translator. “I’m happy and excited. It is fortunate Eric Davis is one of the legends of this game and in Cincinnati, too. Sure enough he let me wear that jersey No. 44 and to be the [first] one since him to do that, is incredible.”
Many in the sellout crowd of 43,086 at Great American Ball Park chanted “Elly! Elly!” The big turnout came two months after a record low for attendance at the stadium of 7,375 on April 17.
“I think this might be the best regular-season game that I’ve been a part of,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I think a lot had to do with the atmosphere in the ballpark. Both teams played a great game. They came up short, but it showed the kind of team they are. It took a lot of great performances to win that game.”
In a wild matchup of National League division leaders, Cincinnati erased an early 5-0 deficit and halted Atlanta’s eight-game winning streak.
The Reds’ winning streak is tied for the second-best in franchise history, matching the 1939 and 1957 teams for the club’s longest since 1900.
The streak is tied with the 1890 Louisville Colonels for the longest win streak by any team that lost at least 100 games the previous season in major league history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
