Sept. 21 – Eli De La Cruz, 22, is in the history books in just his second season in the majors.
The Cincinnati Reds shortstop recorded his major league-leading 65th stolen base in an 8-3 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, becoming the third man in the modern era to record 100 in his first two seasons. He joins Vince Coleman and Rickey Henderson.
He and the Reds will look to continue that success as they try for a series win in the middle match of the three-game series on Saturday.
“We know he’s fast,” Reds head coach David Bell said. “He takes a lot of pride in stealing bases. You’ve got to get on base, too. That’s been big for him this season. What he’s done so far is impressive.”
Although De La Cruz also made some unpleasant history by striking out twice and setting franchise records with 206 runs batted in this season, the Reds (75-80) aren’t overly worried.
“We also know there’s more to come,” Bell said. “He’s going to get better in every aspect.”
Cincinnati’s offense has gone through a series of ups and downs recently. The Reds have scored 33 points in their last four wins. They have given up a total of eight points in their last five losses.
Catcher Tyler Stephenson has been a key contributor to the offense over the past week. He went 3-for-5 with a home run, five RBIs and three runs scored on Friday. Since Sept. 14, he is 8 of 16 in the field.
“The last couple of games I’ve started to feel like myself again,” he said.
Reds rookie Rhett Lord (1-2, 1.74 ERA) will make his fourth career start and take the mound for the first time against Pittsburgh on Saturday. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed one run in his first three innings combined, but in Sunday’s final outing, he allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 9-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
The Buccaneers (72-82) will counter with their rookie right-hander Jared Jones (6-7, 3.85) facing Cincinnati for the first time and looking for his third quality start this month. However, in his most recent outing, Jones allowed two runs in four innings on six hits against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Friday’s loss ended a sixth consecutive losing season for the Buccaneers, who made the playoffs before the trade deadline but have struggled since. They won their first game after the deadline to move three games above .500. Since then, they have lost 30 of 47 games.
“I think it just shows you how much we have to improve,” Pittsburgh head coach Derek Shelton said. “We’re not in that position yet and that’s our focus going into the final (eight) games of the season and into the offseason.”
Pirates center fielder O’Neil Cruz hit his 20th home run of the season on Friday, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, while also recording 20 stolen bases.
“It definitely means a lot, especially after going through a lot of things in terms of my ankle health,” said Cruz, 25. “To be able to achieve that and help the team in some way with those stats means a lot to me.
–Visual-level media
