It Was Will Benson's First Career Home Run That Sealed The Reds Win Elly De la Cruz First Home Run Set The Tone

Will Benson, not Elly De la Cruz first major league home run provided the Reds with an 8-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Evan Phillips (1-2) gave up an infield single to TJ Hopkins before Benson blasted a Phillips offering into the right field stands.

"Honestly, you can't dream it," Benson said. "I was trying to get ready. When I was in the outfield, I knew my time was coming up to bat. I knew it. I got it clean. You play with raw emotion, play with everything you have. When you succeed it overcomes you."

"The energy is immaculate. I feel like we're always in the game. Our togetherness is apparent. Elly is a special player. To see an athlete like him is freaky."

The game was tied 6-6 after three innings but both offenses went dormant until Benson ended the drought.

Elly De la Cruz pummeled a pitch from Noah Syndergaard 458 feet into the right field stands with a man on for his first career home run. The blow was measured at 114.8 mph off the bat.

"The first thing I thought was that ball's gone," De la Cruz said. "I didn't know where it landed. I was looking at my teammates. They told me it almost left the building."

"This whole team has some type of positive vibe. It is kind of like vibes going into a World Series," De la Cruz said. "We are fighting all the time. We never give up."

Mookie Betts got the Dodgers started with his 16th home run leading off the game against Brandon Williamson. It was the sixth leadoff homer this season and 42nd of his career. Miguel Vargas hit his sixth home run. Smith belted his ninth of the season in the Dodgers' three-run third.

A pair of triples by McLain and De la Cruz sparked a four-run answer to the Dodgers' power surge. Tyler Stephenson's two-run home run tied the game at 6-6.

"It is fun to watch our players play like this," Reds' manager David Bell said. "They can't wait to go out and compete together. You continue to believe more and more what your capable of and as a team."

Syndergaard allowed six runs in three innings, the third straight start in which he allowed six or more runs.

"Noah is going through it," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts said. "He's been going through it all year. It is not from lack of effort or preparation. It's just not working. There's things with that blister. Their was a finger nail break tonight. He's not going to make excuses. He understands about performance. We're going to sit down with him and try to figure out, obviously we can't continue at this pace of performance. There might be an opportunity to give him a reset to get this taken care of. You give up a lead. Get the lead again and give it up, it takes a toll on the offense. We couldn't overcome it."

Williamson recovered to retire nine batters in a row to last two outs into the sixth. He allowed six runs on eight hits, including three home runs and two walks.

"That is very difficult to do what he did. It probably won the game for us. It was a tough few innings to stay with it," Bell said. "We couldn't have won the game unless he did what he did. Not only to stay in for our bullpen but to keep them scoreless. As far as I'm concerned that's a win in my book."

The Reds stole four bases in the game.

The Dodgers lead the National League with 106 home runs. The Tampa Bay Rays started the day with 105. The Reds have hit 51. They started the day tied with the Washington Nationals for 14th in the National League.

Alexis Diaz struck out two in the ninth to win his second game of the season. He is 2-1.

STAR IS BORN

Andrew Abbott on Monday and Eduardo Salazar on Tuesday won their first career decisions.  Brandon Williamson started in an attempt to win his first for the Reds in the third straight game.

Elly De la Cruz made his first career start at shortstop. He was 1-for-3 with two walks in his Tuesday night debut, starting at third base.

Jonny DeLuca, the Dodgers' 25th round selection in the 2019 draft debuted in center field against Cincinnati. He was 0-for-2 with a walk. RHP Nick Robertson struck out De la Cruz, the first big league batter he faced in his debut in the fifth inning. He pitched two scoreless innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: RHP Daniel Hudson pitched in Arizona on Tuesday. He is a few weeks out according to Dave Roberts. OF Trayce Thompson will be out "north of 30 days" with an grade two or grade three oblique strain. He is rehabbing in Arizona. Miguel Rojas left the game with neck tightness.

Reds: OF Jake Fraley was scratched from the starting lineup with swelling in his right forearm. He was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning on Tuesday. OF Friedl took live batting practice today. He could be activated on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Reds' RHP Graham Ashcraft (3-4, 6.64) will face LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-4, 3.25) Thursday afternoon at 12:35 pm.