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Elly De La Cruz, ever the crowd pleaser, hit a grand slam on his bobble head night, leading to a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"There were a lot of fans. They're special to us," De La Cruz said. "I hit it really well. When I hit it, I knew it was going to go. He had to throw a strike."
After he hit two home runs against Texas, De La Cruz hit just .154 coming into the game.
"I feel good," De La Cruz said. "I'm feeling comfortable on both sides of the plate. The results haven't been there but that's how baseball is."
Manager Terry Francona has a lot to worry about but De La Cruz is not one of them.
"We made the most with not a lot of hits," Francona said. "That inning happened with two outs. It was a game changer."
"If they're healthy, guys get to their level," Francona continued. "As cold as guys get, they get that hot. That's why you don't give up on guys too quick. Elly gets pitched so tough as premier guys do. He's always one swing away. Even if he takes a bad swing with his legs there is always something that can happen. He's been kind of fun to get to know."
De La Cruz has 16 RBI in 15 games.
Andrew Heaney lost control in the third inning as the Pirates' starter gave up a double to Santiago Espinal and hit TJ Friedl and Blake Dunn with pitches.
De La Cruz worked a 3-2 count then blasted a drive into the left field seats for his second career grand slam.
Did it make De La Cruz get angry when the pitcher hit his teammate?
"No it gave me a chance to hit," De La Cruz said with a smile.
Andrew Abbott in his first start since last August 18 handcuffed the Pirates hitters. He gave up a single to Bryan Reynolds, leading off the fourth for the first hit by Pittsburgh. One inning later, Alexander Canario hit his first home run of the season to break the shutout.
Abbott pitched five innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts.
"I think I executed pretty well overall today," Abbott said. "Obviously, I hate walking people. I've said that for many years now. I got myself in good counts and got some early contact, then was able to locate. Tip your cap to Canario. He put a good swing on a heater but that pitch was where we wanted it to go."
His first game back was a pretty good one.
"We were going to keep his pitches at 90 pitches. He was at 82, I think. There were a lot of deep counts. The middle of the order was coming up. It was time to get him out of there."
Ian Gibaut started the sixth for the Reds. He struck out Reynolds abd Ke'Bryan Hayes, De La Cruz made a magnificant diving stop of Andrew McCutchen's bid for a hit up the middle. The throw was in the dirt and Jeimer Candelario.
Scott Barlow walked Canario, who scored on a double by Enmanuel Valdez.
Tony Santillan preserved the lead getting Isiah Kiner-Falefa to pop out and end the inning. Santillan faced the heart of the Pirates order and retired them in order.
Emilio Pagan started the ninth to save his fourth game and second in two nights.
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