In Bronx debut, Elly is 'that dude'

NEW YORK -- Yankee Stadium intimidating? Clearly not for Elly De La Cruz on Tuesday.

De La Cruz grew up as a Yankees fan, and his favorite player was Derek Jeter. His first Major League game as a fan was at the ballpark in the Bronx. But when it was his first time playing there, the 22-year-old rose to the occasion with a triple, a two-run home run and two runs scored for the Reds during a 5-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series.

“I like it a lot," De La Cruz said of Yankee Stadium.

“That dude, it almost seems like when we get on stages like this he steps it up a notch, and it’s impressive," Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft said.

De La Cruz is making his final arguments for an invitation to the All-Star Game. In his last 10 games, he is batting .378 with a 1.204 OPS, three homers, three triples, four doubles, three steals and eight RBIs.

“Some players are just comfortable in the big spot," Reds manager David Bell said. "It’s not just a certain city or location, but the importance of a game, the importance of an at-bat. He’s just comfortable in those spots. He believes in himself. He has confidence playing the game, and he’s just at the beginning."

De La Cruz's speed drew oohs and aahs from Yankees fans when he hit a fourth-inning leadoff triple to the right-field corner against Yankees rookie starter Luis Gil. The ball was fielded by his friend, superstar Juan Soto.

Despite a strong throw from Soto, De La Cruz easily reached third base with a headfirst slide.

“He was trying to get me out. He can’t catch me," De La Cruz said of Soto.

From third base, De La Cruz scored the game's first run on Jeimer Candelario's groundout to second base.

Cincinnati sent eight men to the plate and chased Gil in the fifth inning. After leadoff batter Stuart Fairchild was hit by a pitch, Will Benson hit a 0-1 fastball to center field for a two-run homer -- his ninth of the season and first since May 28.

The right-handed Gil hit his second batter of the game, Jonathan India, before giving way to lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson. The idea was to turn the switch-hitting De La Cruz around to bat right-handed, which isn't his strongest side but getting increasingly better.

De La Cruz attacked a 2-0 fastball from Ferguson for a booming two-run homer into the Reds' bullpen in left-center field that gave Cincinnati a 5-0 lead.

“I feel the most confident. I’ve been working a lot," De La Cruz said of his improvement hitting right-handed. “Right now, I feel comfortable on both sides.”

Ashcraft didn't have to personally witness the homer to know it was going to be impressive.

"You can’t see anything from sitting down on the bench in that dugout unless you’re up on the rail," Ashcraft explained. "When he hit it, I didn’t see the ball go out like I did [Benson's]. I heard everybody go, ‘Oh!’ I was like, ‘Yep, that ball’s gone.’"

It was De La Cruz's 15th homer of the season, with Statcast projecting it traveled 425 feet with 114.1 mph exit velocity.

“It’s Elly being Elly," Benson said. “Sometimes he just casually runs and gets a triple with, like, no effort and then hits a 114 [mph] homer. It’s awesome. No one else is really doing that, but Elly is."

The Reds needed all of the runs as a buffer. Ashcraft worked five scoreless innings but couldn't retire any of his three batters in the Yankees' three-run sixth inning. Aaron Judge's homer to left field against Sam Moll in the seventh inning made it a one-run game.

Fernando Cruz and closer Alexis Díaz protected the lead with perfect innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively. It was the 18th save of the season for Díaz and his 11th in a row.

De La Cruz became the first Reds player in the franchise's history and the third player in AL/NL history to hit at least 15 homers with 40 or more steals in the club's first 85 games of a season. It was also done by Ronald Acu?a Jr. in 2023 and twice by Rickey Henderson in 1986 and 1990.

“It’s fun to watch him play, especially when he’s hitting his stride and he’s on," Ashcraft said. "That’s a dangerous player at the plate and in the field.”