The Cincinnati Reds extended their win streak to 12 games with an 11-10 victory over the Atlanta Braves, thanks in part to rookie Elly De La Cruz. At 21 years old, De La Cruz became the youngest player in 51 years to hit for the cycle in Major League Baseball.
He doubled in the second inning, hit a two-run homer in the third, had a run-scoring single in the fifth, and tripled in the sixth, securing four RBIs for the night. De La Cruz’s triple increased the Reds’ lead to 11-7. He joins the ranks of Houston’s César Cedeño as the youngest players to achieve the cycle since 1901.
This was only the seventh cycle in team history and the first since 1989. De La Cruz wears the same number, 44, as the legendary Eric Davis, who was the last Reds player to hit for the cycle before him. The game drew a sellout crowd of 43,086, a significant turnout after a record-low attendance earlier in the season.
Reds manager David Bell described it as one of the best regular-season games he has witnessed, praising the performances of both teams. Cincinnati’s win not only snapped the Braves’ eight-game winning streak but also tied the franchise record for the second-longest win streak since 1900. Additionally, the Reds’ streak matches the 1890 Louisville Colonels for the longest win streak by a team that had previously lost at least 100 games in a season in Major League Baseball history.
