CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz has struggled at the plate in April, but on his bobblehead giveaway night on Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds’ shortstop broke out in a big way.
On a 3-2 pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Andrew Heaney in the third inning, De La Cruz, batting right-handed, sent a towering fly ball into the left-field seats for his second career grand slam lifting the Reds to a .
Many of the 31,188 fans showed up early to grab an Elly De La Cruz switch-hitter bobblehead, and they weren’t disappointed.
“There were a lot of fans and they are special to me,” De La Cruz said. “It was crazy, electric. It felt really good. I hit it really well. When I hit it, I (could) tell it was gone.”
The grand slam was an encouraging sign for De La Cruz who was batting .153 this month and hadn’t homered since going deep twice on March 31 against Texas.
“I’m feeling good,” De La Cruz said. “I’m feeling comfortable both sides of the plate. The results haven’t been there but that doesn’t matter. We just keep going.”
He was 6 for 39 coming into the game and hadn’t homered this month. His manager wasn’t concerned, but recognized the importance of the grand slam.
“When you get to Elly, there’s always that chance,” manager Terry Francona said. “That was a game changer for us.”
At 23 years and 91 days old, De La Cruz became the youngest Reds player to hit a grand slam at Great American Ball Park. He’s just the sixth Reds player to hit two grand slams before the age of 24.
“He’s a difference maker,” said Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott, who earned the victory in his season debut. “Everyone in the room knows that.”
De La Cruz fell behind 1-2 to Heaney before working the count to 3-2. De La Cruz said he knew Heaney needed to throw a strike.
“3-2, trying to make a pitch, guy is a good hitter and he put a barrel on it,” Heaney said. “Probably went to the well one too many times there. Tried to be competitive there and got beat to the spot.”
Despite the early-season slump, De La Cruz has been a run-producer for a Reds offense that began the month with three straight 1-0 losses. He’s just the ninth National League switch-hitter since 1920 to have 16 RBIs in his team’s first 15 games.
“He’s always one swing away,” Francona said. “As cold as guys get, they get just that hot. It’ll even out. I don’t worry about him too much. He’s a fun player to be around.”
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