CINCINNATI — Elly De La Cruz hit his first two homers of the season, a massive 450-foot solo drive and a sinking liner that turned into his first career inside-the-park drive, and the Cincinnati Reds held off the Milwaukee Brewers 10-8 on Monday night.
De La Cruz had three hits and scored four times. Will Benson also homered for the Reds, and Spencer Steer had two RBIs.
The Reds led 8-0 after four innings and 9-3 after five. And the Brewers nearly rallied for an improbable win.
Milwaukee's Brice Turang hit a two-run homer in the fifth and a two-run double in the sixth. Christian Yelich's two-run shot in the seventh — his fourth homer of the season — got the Brewers within one.
Trailing 10-8 in the ninth, Milwaukee had runners on the corners with two out. But Alexis Díaz earned his second save when he retired Rhys Hoskins on a fly ball to right.
Milwaukee third baseman Joey Ortiz committed two of the team's three errors, and Cincinnati scored four unearned runs.
De La Cruz gave Cincinnati a 9-3 lead when he led off the fifth with a drive off the batter’s eye in center.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, the speedy shortstop hit a line drive that skipped past a diving Sal Frelick in center and rolled to the wall. He raced around the bases to complete the first inside-the-park homer for Cincinnati since TJ Friedl on Sept. 23, 2023.
Benson’s second homer of the season lifted Cincinnati to a 2-0 lead in the second. It was his first career homer off a left-hander.
Benson added an RBI double in the fourth and scored on Steer’s double, helping the Reds build an 8-0 advantage.
