Elly De La Cruz hit a towering three-run homer, tripled and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 9-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The game was overshadowed by the early departure of Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. The right-hander left in the second inning after just 26 pitches due to arm fatigue.
Ohtani struck out a pair of Reds in a perfect top of the first, then gave the Angels a lead in the bottom half of the inning.
After Luis Rengifo worked a leadoff walk against Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott, Ohtani belted the first pitch he saw for his major-league-leading 44th home run of the season. The 442-foot rocket to the seats in right center was clocked at 115.7 mph off the bat and put the Angels up 2-0.
With one out and one on in the second, Ohtani threw five pitches to Christian Encarnacion-Strand, including a 94-mph fastball that was fouled off.
Following that pitch, Ohtani briefly shook his right arm and then shook his head, prompting a visit from manager Phil Nevin and the team trainer. Moments later, Ohtani was escorted off the mound. Lefty Tyler Anderson (5-5) took over in relief and suffered the loss.
As was the case Tuesday night, the Reds capitalized on another error from the Angels’ infield in the fifth to put together a three-run rally for the second straight game.
With two outs and a runner on first, McLain hit a routine grounder to short and Andrew Velazquez threw it away. De La Cruz then launched an Anderson fastball over the wall in center for his 11th homer and a 4-3 Cincinnati lead.
Abbott could not get through the fifth as he allowed a single to Rengifo and walked Nolan Schanuel before being pulled for reliever Buck Farmer (4-5). The right-hander earned the win by working out of the two-on, none-out jam and recording two more outs in the sixth.
De La Cruz added a three-run triple and scored on a single by Spencer Steer in a four-run seventh to make it 8-3.
–Field Level Media
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