Reds Beat: Thanks To The ‘Incredible’ Elly De La Cruz, David Bell, Reds ‘Set The Tone’ vs. Brewers In Opener

CINCINNATI — David Bell wasn’t intending to send a message.

But thanks to the raw gifts and incredible talent of Elly De La Cruz, the Reds sent one Monday night in their 10-8 roller coaster slug-fest against their NL Central nemesis.

“Before the game, DB said, ‘Obviously, let’s just set the tone, let them know who we are right away,” said Will Benson, who fulfilled the manager’s wishes with his first career homer off a lefty in a two-run second that put the Reds ahead, 2-0, against the Brewers.

“We came out of the gate and did that so I mean me personally, I love playing the Brewers with the chip. So, it’s obviously good that we came out and did what we did today.”

Bell downplayed his pregame message to a degree. Yes, he wanted his team focused on their pregame work and attempt to get off to a good start in a critical four-game set with a team that’s had their number in the last six seasons, especially at GABP.

“I mean, we do that from time to time before (team) meetings,” Bell said. “But it’s more of just conversation. But I was really happy with how we played our style of baseball really. It’s pretty simple. We came out with playing hard and it was a good day of work before the game and of course, it took everybody. So playing together, that’s kind of who we are. There’s no question that takes our best to play.”

Bell has nothing but respect for the Brewers because that’s the kind of leader he is. To Bell’s way of thinking, you can want to beat the hell out of the opponent but don’t disrespect them or the game in doing it.

“Because all these things especially like inner-division, the Brewers, we know how good they are,” Bell said. “I mean, you’re always trying to (send a message). It’s a great competition. So it’s certainly nothing personal. It’s absolute respect for all things at play and definitely the Brewers.”

The most incredible part of the night for Benson wasn’t what he did at the plate with a homer and two run-scoring hits but watching his teammate single-handedly rejuvenate the Reds when Milwaukee had made an 8-0 laugher into a 9-8 Reds nail-biter in the bottom of the seventh.

“Amazing. I mean, I heard that he was running like 30 miles an hour or something like that around the bases the whole time,” Benson said. “So that’s pretty incredible. And I honestly had my eyes glued in on (third base coach) JR (House), just to see if he was going to wave him in or what. He waved and I was excited because I knew he was going he was going to make it. It was going to be an inside-the-park home run. So, incredible.”

Now, while De La Cruz was running 30 feet per second (not 30 miles an hour), it was still remarkable what the 22-year-old did Monday night, racing around in 15 seconds.

He crushed a home run 450 feet off the batter’s eye and hit a homer that measured 282 feet, the first Red to homer from both sides of the plate since Javier Valentin in 2005 and only the third Red ever to accomplish the feat, joining Valentin and Pete Rose, who did it in 1966 and 67.

The Reds built an 8-0 lead after four innings and then had to rely on two homers from De La Cruz, including an inside-the-park homer, to fend off the Brewers, 10-8. The Brewers had scored three in the fifth, three in the sixth and two more in the seventh to close to within one.

Then De La Cruz ran around the bases for his first career inside-the-park homer and the game changed back in Cincinnati’s favor.

“It was an exciting play and all that, but it was a big run in that game because there’s no question, you can feel it, momentum, and they had it at that point,” Reds manager David Bell said. “And that slows it up just enough to where our bullpen was able to hold them off from there.”

The Brewers won 10 of the 13 meetings between the two in 2023, including six of seven in Cincinnati, as the Reds missed the postseason by just two games. Even with Monday’s loss, Milwaukee is still 35-15 in their last 50 games in Cincinnati since 2018.

The expectations were raised in the offseason for the Reds, who hope to replace their division rival Brewers atop the NL Central.

“We’ve put in a lot of work and we’re ready to go to the World Series,” De La Cruz said after Monday’s game.

The Brewers, with first-year manager Pat Murphy, won six of their first eight games before opening a seven-game road trip Monday on a losing note. After three more games in Cincinnati, Milwaukee plays three games in Baltimore.

Despite the eight-run hole and three errors that led to four unearned runs, the Brewers were within one heading into the bottom of the seventh.

“There’s no question, I like the guys in the room,” Murphy said. “I like the way they respond. That’s a good team across the way. You can’t give them that much rope. We really have played incredible defense up until this point. We didn’t have a good night there. That’s going to happen. We put ourselves in position to come back. It just wasn’t enough.”

The Reds send right-hander Frankie Montas (2-0, 0.77) to the mound in the second game of the series. Montas has allowed just one run on nine hits in 11 2/3 innings in his first two starts with Cincinnati.

Montas allowed one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings last Wednesday in Philadelphia, earning his second straight win.

Montas is facing Milwaukee for just the second time in his career. In his only other career appearance – Sept. 16, 2022 – the right-hander allowed four runs on four hits over 3 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out two and receiving a no-decision in Milwaukee’s 7-6 win over the Yankees.

The Brewers counter with right-hander Joe Ross (0-0, 0.00), making his second start of the season.

Last Wednesday, Ross made his Milwaukee debut vs. Minnesota. In a 7-3 loss to the twins, he received no decision and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits but walking five with three strikeouts.

In four career starts against Cincinnati, Ross is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA. All four starts came with Washington and took place at Nationals Park.