His throwing error in the 10th inning Friday night in Great American Ball Park aided and abetted a 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
He made two errors in the game, six in his last six games and 22 for the season, most in MLB.
It was 5-5 with two outs and a runner on third in the 10th. Willson Contreras, a slow-footed catcher playing first base these days, hit a slow roller toward shortstop.
De La Cruz charged it and instead of taking his time with a slow runner chugging down the line, he rushed his throw and it skidded in the dirt off first baseman Spencer Steer’s glove.
The go-ahead run scored and the Cardinals added a second run on Masyn Winn’s third run-scoring hit of the night. This coming from a guy 4 for 36 entering the game.
The Reds put two on in the bottom of the 10th but De La Cruz struck out to end it.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
In fairness to De La Cruz he did have a double and a triple and scored two runs earlier in the game, but what he contributed early he gave away late.
And this isn’t to lay all the blame on De La Cruz for the Reds’ seventh loss in eight games to fall 4 1/2 games behind the New York Mets in the wild card hunt.
The Reds were 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 runners, a major chapter in their statistical book on the coffee table.
And they have not figured out how to win extra-inning games. They are 3-10 in extras.
It looked as if they might win it against the Cards, a team not playing with a full deck. They are missing four regulars on the injured list — third baseman Nolan Arrenado, second baseman Brendan Donovan, first baseman Alec Burleson, center fielder Victor Scott II, plus a bullpen full of pitchers.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Down 4-2 after five, the Reds scored a run in the sixth on Spencer Steer’s leadoff home run and scored a run in the seventh on the De La Cruz triple and Miguel Andujar’s third hit.
St. Louis took a 5-4 lead on Winn’s double, his third hit and third RBI, but the Reds tied in the eighth with another run on Ke’Bryan Hayes leadoff home run.
Then came the fatal 10th.
“I felt all the way to the end (that the Reds would win,” Francona told reporters after the game. “I thought we’d win it right until the end.”
Francona, always protective of his players, covered for De La Cruz.
“The first ball (an error in the second) jumped up and hit him in the arm,” he said. “The last play was a do-or-die and we didn’t make it.
“Elly goes about his business pretty good,” he added. “I don’t think he’s thrilled when those things happen, nobody would be, but he’s OK.”
Reds starter Zack Littell gave up four runs in the first three innings, three on homers by Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages. That’s 30 homers given up by Littell, most in the majors.
After he gave up a run-scoring single by Winn in the third, he retired the next 14 Cardinals.
“I didn’t feel like he had a real good feel for his off-speed,” said Francona. “He was leaving a lot of pitches in the middle. To his credit, he found it, pitched his way into the seventh. That’s pretty impressive what he did.”
And what is it about left-handed pitchers? The Reds would struggle against a left-handed cardboard cut-out. They are 18-25 in games started by left-handers.
St. Louis lefty Matt Liberatore was 0-5 with a 6.21 earned run average in his previous seven starts. But he held the Reds to three runs and eight hits over five-plus innings, stranding six runners.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Ke’Bryan Hayes gave a poignant synopsis of what ails the Reds during a post-game media session.
“As of late, we have to start taking care of the ball a little more,” he told reporters. “We’re working as best we can in our preparation and practice.
“On the offensive side, I noticed in a couple of our games we did really well because it wasn’t so much the long ball. It was taking our walks, hitting line drives, keeping the line moving.
“Teams that are able to get into the playoffs are teams that are able to do those things,” he added. “I’ve never been in the playoffs, but those teams are able to do that stuff, get all their bunts down, do the little stuff.
“Sometimes, myself included, we try to get too big of a hit instead of just trying to hit the ball low and hard on the line and then the home runs and doubles will come.”
Hayes said he has never participated in a playoff and it is looking more and more each game that he won’t play in one this year, either, because with 27 games remaining the Reds are running out of tomorrows.
NEXT GAME
Who: Cardinals at Reds
When: 6:40 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM
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