*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
All of a sudden, the center of the baseball world is in Cincinnati. Elly De La Cruz dazzled, Will Benson had the winning homer, and the Cincinnati Reds rallied to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 8-6 walkoff win on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
The Reds have won 3 straight games, setting themselves up for a potential sweep to wrap up the series. They are now 29-33 and in 3rd place in the NL Central despite being 4 games under .500. 3 players had multiple RBI's as 5 in total drove in a run. But De La Cruz has been the centerpiece.
Making his major league debut on Tuesday and scalding a double for his first major league hit, De La Cruz followed that up with a towering home run that almost left the stadium while also tripling to the gap. It took him 10.83 seconds to get from home to 3rd base, the fastest this year and second fastest since the start of the 2020 season.
Benson said of De La Cruz that "He's a special player. I can, hands down, say I've never played with a player like that. I've played with good hitters like Elly. I never seen a complete package like that. I'm a pretty good athlete myself. To see that, honestly, it's freaky."
Mookie Betts hit a solo home run and Max Muncy hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead early. De La Cruz quickly changed that with his mammoth homer in the bottom of the first, tying the score 2-2. Miguel Vargas homered in the second, followed by Will Smith hitting a two run homer in the top of the 3rd and Vargas hitting an RBI double to make it 6-2 Dodgers.
In the bottom of the 3rd, the Reds tied the game 6-6. Jonathan India hit a sac fly that scored a run, Spencer Steer hit an RBI single, and Tyler Stephenson blasted a two run home run to bring the game back to even. It stayed that way until the 9th. Then, Benson hit a two run walk off home run, his first homer in the majors, to give the Reds a dramatic win.
Cincinnati manager David Bell said of Benson's walkoff that "It could not happen to a better guy. He's really starting to play with confidence. As he should. He's a good player. Sometimes, it takes a little time to settle in. We know what he's capable of. He's extremely well-liked and respected on this team. It's a great, much deserved reaction."
Brandon Williamson got the start for the Reds, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings of work. Buck Farmer provided 1 1/3 innings before Lucas Sims and Alexis Diaz threw an inning each. Diaz got credit for the win to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Noah Syndergaard was the starter for the Dodgers, getting tagged for 6 runs on 7 hits, lasting just 3 innings. Alex Vesia pitched the 4th before Nick Robertson threw two scoreless innings. Brusdar Graterol and Yency Almonte threw scoreless innings before Evan Phillips got the loss in the 9th.
After the game, Syndergaard said of his start "Just really poor execution and consistency with my pitches. I feel like I threw a lot of really good pitches, but the mistakes I made, they capitalized on. When it rains, it pours. It’s just kind of hard to stop the bleeding right now. I’m running out of words to explain what’s going on."
With Julio Urias set to be activated from the 15 Day IL to get the start on Sunday for the Dodgers, the other shoe has dropped with Syndergaard and his rocky season. He was placed on the 15 Day IL himself with a blister on his right index finger. Tayler Scott was called up in a corresponding move.
Up next, the series concludes on Thursday afternoon. The Reds will go for the sweep with Graham Ashcraft getting the start. The Dodgers look to avoid that sweep as Clayton Kershaw takes the mound.
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