Photo: Getty Images
Reds 11 Braves 10
Warning: What I’ve typed will not come anywhere close to doing justice to what took place Friday night at GABP.
The Reds and Braves stood in the middle of the ring and threw haymakers at each other for 9 fabulously fun innings. It was the Reds that landed the TKO, beating the Braves 11-10 on a night this city won’t soon forget. The two teams combined to hit 9 home runs, 5 by the Braves, 4 for the Reds.
Insert: It wasn’t easy. It never is. A sellout crowd saw the Reds trail 5-0 before they came to bat. Then watched them storm back to tie the game and take an 11-7 lead in breathtaking, eye rubbing, fist pumping fashion. The Reds then had to survive three Braves solo homers off Lucas Sims in the 8th. Alexis Diaz walked a batter in the 9th, but got a DP to end it. It was their ML leading 27th comeback victory this season.
Elly De La Cruz pulled off the first cycle by a Reds player since Eric Davis in 1989, becoming the 7th player in franchise history to reach the milestone. Joey Votto clobbered two home runs.
The Reds extended their win streak to 12 games, equaling their longest streak since 1957. They snapped the Braves eight game win streak.
Electric Elly: 4 H, 4 RBI. He completed the cycled in his15th ML game. He got the triple last, in the 6th inning, going 1st to 3rd in 10.83 seconds. He drilled a double into the top of the wall in right-center at 116.6 mph.
Votto: 2 HR. His 19th multi- homer game. He rocketed a 428-foot blast off the batter’s eye in CF to tie the game. He crushed a 415-foot 3-run bolt to RF for a 9-7 lead.
Machine like: The 11 runs were the most allowed by the Braves this season. All nine starters reached base at least one….9 hits, 6 walks, 4 homers, 3 stolen bases.
Historical:
Per ESPN: De La Cruz is the first player in the World Series Era (since 1903) to record 20 hits, 5 stolen bases and 3 HR in a player’s first 15 career games.
Per MLB Radio: At 21 years, 163 days, he’s the youngest player to hit for the cycle since 1972.
Per ESPN: 3rd player in AL/NL history with a cycle in their first 15 career games.
Per OptaStats: He is the only MLB player to hit for the cycle, steal a base and drive in 4+ runs all within the first 6 innings of a game (since RBI became an official stat in 1920).
Weaver: 3.1 IN, 7 H, 5, 1 BB, 3 K, 82 pitches/54 strikes. The Braves sent nine batters to the plate in a 43 pitch 1st inning that included 5 H, 5 R, WP. His ERA climbs from 6.57 to 6.86.
Pen:
Daniel Duarte 1.1, 2 R
Alex Young 0.2, 0 R
Ian Gibaut 0.2, 0 R
Buck Farmer 1.0, 0 R
Lucas Sims 1.0, 3 HR….had 10 consecutive scoreless appearances
Alexis Diaz 1.0, 0 R
How the Reds scored:
2nd: Fraley two-run HR, 5-2 Braves
3rd: De La Cruz two-run HR, 5-4 Braves
4th: Votto HR, 5-5
5th: De La Cruz RBI 1B 7-6 Braves
5th; Votto three-run HR, 9-7 Reds
6th: India RBI 1B, 10-7 Reds
6th: De La Cruz RBI 3B, 11-7 Reds