De La Cruz opened and stole a base, and the Reds scored 4 points in a single game, and the Reds ended their losing streak and equalized the series

After suffering a 6-13 comeback to the Cubs on the eve of the previous game, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, the Central Division leader of the National League, 6-4 at the Great American Stadium on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak and tie the series 1-1. Superstar Elly De La Cruz made three home runs in a single game and contributed four dozen RBIs, which was the key to stopping the decline.

In the bottom half of the first inning, after Santiago Espinal picked four bad balls to base, De La Cruz grabbed Colin Rea's 2-0 fastball and blasted it into the right field stand. "He's the instant scoring device," Red Players coach Terry Francona lavished, "and other teams rely on home runs, and we have a different system, but the first two-point shot really sets the tone." It was De La Cruz's ninth run of the season (first on the team) and the second home run of his career against Rhea.

Cubs coach Craig Counsell recalled: "Escorting Espinal is a curse, and against a hitter like De La Cruz, you have to limit the runner in front. Today we didn't. The Reds' new nuclear five innings came back with a second inning: TJ Friedl opened the inning with an infielder and went to second base with a pitcher error, and after Espinal hit a push, De La Cruz scored two points in a straight flight from the right fielder, then stole second base (17th steal of the season) and ran back to home plate with a well-timed hit from Spencer Steer, extending his career-high 12 consecutive hits.

Reds starter Andrew Abbott conceded one point in 5.2 innings (Justin Turner scored three innings) to claim his fifth win of the season. "This kid was born for a critical moment," Abbott commented, "and he was an exemplary team-mate off the pitch. The bullpen lost one point each in the final three innings, but Emilio Pagán held his ground after being attacked by Carson Kelly's cannon in the ninth inning, and made his 13th rescue.

The Reds (26-27) halted their recent decline and reduced the gap to the division top spot to 5.5 games. "Yesterday is gone," said Espinal, who contributed to the key hit, "and we know what we are capable of and we came back today with the same mentality." De La Cruz proved once again why he is known as an "instant scoring device" with his fourth single-game 4+ RB performance of the season (0.248 batting average, 0.739 attack index in 53 games) – although it is a little lackluster than the explosive performance of 2023-24, the well-timed burst is more precious.