Elly flies high with career-best 6 RBIs in win vs. Angels

ANAHEIM -- Throughout his rookie season for the Reds, the vast majority of Elly De La Cruz's electric offensive moments have come with the switch-hitter batting left-handed. Right-handed? Not so much.

In Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader vs. the Angels, De La Cruz came up very big from the right side. His three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning was half of a career-high six-RBI performance that lifted the Reds to a 9-4 victory at Angel Stadium. It also set up Cincinnati to sweep the series with a 7-3 win in the nightcap that also put the Reds into the third NL Wild Card slot.

“Of course, it feels great," De La Cruz said of succeeding right-handed, via translator Jorge Merlos. “You can always have bad times when you’re batting right-handed, but whenever you keep working on it, you know you’re going to get better.”

Arm fatigue forced Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to exit the game after only securing four outs. Ohtani left with a 2-0 lead because of his own homer hit against Andrew Abbott in the bottom of the first inning.

The Angels turned to veteran lefty Tyler Anderson to take over and, until the fifth inning, the only run he gave up crossed when Matt McLain scored on Joey Votto's RBI groundout in the fourth.

With two outs and a runner on first base in the fifth, McLain grounded to shortstop. As he sped up the line, Andrew Velazquez rushed a throw on the run to first base and bounced it for an error that extended the inning.

Facing De La Cruz, Anderson screamed in frustration as he went to a 2-0 count on a ball in the dirt. His next offering was a 92-mph fastball over the heart of the strike zone, and De La Cruz crushed it to left-center field for a three-run homer and a 4-3 Reds lead.

“It seemed like he was a little bit off with himself, but it doesn’t matter how he feels or anything," De La Cruz said. "I’m out there just [trying] to do my job. I’m just out there trying to create something.”

It was the second day in a row that a two-out error by the Angels in the fifth inning opened the door for a lead change.

“It’s great to take advantage of mistakes and capitalize in those situations," said third baseman Spencer Steer, who had three hits, including an RBI single in the seventh and ninth innings. "I think that’s kind of been the difference the last two games. We’ve been able to capitalize when they gave us an extra out.”

Of De La Cruz's 11 homers this season, two have come right-handed. He came into the day with a .262 average and .831 OPS left-handed, compared to .233 with a .568 OPS right-handed. He had 64 strikeouts in 207 plate appearances as a lefty and 32 strikeouts in only 75 plate appearances as a righty.

De La Cruz's other right-handed home run was on Aug. 4, vs. the Nationals and lefty Patrick Corbin.

Manager David Bell has given no thought to using De La Cruz less against left-handed pitching.

"We know he can hit right-handed. He’s done it. If anything, he hasn’t had as many at-bats," Bell said. “That’s why it’s so important to get him going against the left-handed pitching, because we want him on the field. He’s able to contribute in so many ways. He’s showing that.”

In the seventh inning with the bases loaded, De La Cruz returned to batting lefty against right-hander Dominic Leone. His triple toward the right-field corner -- hit at 112.6 mph -- cleared the bases, providing some cushion as the bullpen held on for the victory.

It was Cincinnati's Major League-leading 39th come-from-behind win.

Even though De La Cruz also struck out three times in the game, he's still capable of doing damage at any moment.

“This is the first time I’ve seen him play in person," Angels manager Phil Nevin said. "He’s just a really electric player. And he can really get down the line and run.”