Elly De La Cruz slams Reds to 5-2 win over Pirates
No better way to celebrate your bobble head day than a 4-run 4-bagger!
On a normal night, the talk of the recap would be the fact that the Reds returned from the injured list an important piece to an already potent rotation in Andrew Abbott, who threw 5 solid innings en route to a 5-2 Reds victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. However, with an offense that is still struggling to find its form, we’re talking about Elly De La Cruz. Because without Elly’s 107.8 mph grand slam to left, the Reds very well may not have won this game.
In the bottom of the 3rd, with Santiago Espinal standing on 2nd base with 2 outs, the Reds benefited from two straight hit-by-pitches to TJ Friedl and Blake Dunn. That would load the bases for Elly, who was able to work a full count before depositing the deciding home run into the seats in left. Otherwise, it was another quiet night from the offense. The Reds only collected 4 hits on the night, 2 of which came in that 3rd inning. They were able to tack on a run in the bottom of the 7th on an error that would have otherwise been an inning-ending double play to extend their lead to 5-2. But ultimately, that run didn’t matter because the pitching once again carried the team.
The return of Andrew Abbott brought even more stability to an already strong rotation. Coming back from a shoulder injury, he picked up right where he left off in his first two seasons and delivered a solid, workmanlike performance. He doesn’t have the high powered strikeout stuff like Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene, but he pounds the strike zone and gets guys out, and that’s exactly what he did tonight. Abbott was able to go 5 innings and allowed only 1 run on 2 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. The bullpen combo of Ian Gibaut, Scott Barlow, Tony Santillan, and Emilio Pagan carried their weight as well, allowing only 1 run in their 4 innings of relief to preserve the win.
Despite the offensive woes, the Reds have now won 2 straight series and 4 of their last 5 games. Now, they turn to ace Hunter Greene on Sunday as they look for their first sweep of 2025 and a chance to pull back to .500 for the first time all year. Greene is off to a Cy Young-esque start to the year and will hopefully continue that performance tomorrow afternoon. The Pirates will counter with right hander Carmen Miodziknski. First pitch is at 1:40 PM EDT. Go Reds.