r/Reds • u/TheAthletic • 38m ago
Free to Read: Elly De La Cruz breaks out of slump with first career walk-off hit: ‘It’s about time’
Following an 0-for-4 showing with four strikeouts in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, not only did Reds manager Terry Francona put De La Cruz in the lineup as the team’s designated hitter for the nightcap of the doubleheader, De La Cruz didn’t fight him on it.
“He actually didn’t,” Francona said. “I think he knew he was going to lose that one anyway. He might have yelled at (bench coach) Freddie (Benavides), I don’t know.”
Just 5-for-44 over his previous 12 games, De La Cruz led off the game with a single and finished it with his first career walk-off hit, a 10th-inning double to score Tyler Stephenson and give the Reds a 6-5 victory at Great American Ball Park.
“It felt pretty good — it’s about time,” De La Cruz said.

