Elly saves injured bird, then soars with 2-run homer, 4-RBI game

CINCINNATI — Usually a shortstop, Elly De La Cruz served as the Reds' designated hitter on Sunday. Not only did De La Cruz put baseballs into flight with his bat against the Brewers, he flashed some avian trapping and fowling skills to nab a troubled bird unable to get back in the air.

It was all in a day's work during a 12-8 win over Milwaukee at Great American Ball Park. De La Cruz provided four RBIs in the victory, including a two-run home run in the fourth inning and the go-ahead two-run double in the bottom of the fifth.

Despite likely being out of contention for a playoff spot, having the hardest remaining schedule in the Major Leagues hasn't clipped Cincinnati's wings lately. The club has three straight series wins over contending clubs in the Cubs, Padres and now the Brewers, owners of the best record in baseball.

As the Brewers' Jackson Chourio batted in the top of the fourth inning, a wayward bird parked on the infield grass in Reds starting pitcher Brady Singer's line of vision.

Timeout was called, and the seemingly injured bird was surrounded by Singer, first-base umpire Chris Guccione and a Reds bat boy, but the bird struggled to take flight. The bat boy made an ill-fated attempt to shoo the bird off the field with his helmet. Fortunately for the bird's safety, he whiffed. Then, Singer looked like he was about to attempt to scoop the bird with his glove.

Suddenly, De La Cruz emerged from the dugout and like the shortstop he is, took command of the situation like it was a routine pop-up. He called off Singer and the bat boy, gave a brief pursuit before he managed to get the bird in his batting glove-covered hands and took it off the field.

De La Cruz received some applause and was seen laughing in the dugout as play resumed. Hopefully for his health and safety, he got some disinfectant for his batting gloves and hands, too.

Until that point, the Brewers were held hitless. That changed when next batter Jake Bauers hit a two-run homer to cut Cincinnati's 4-0 lead in half. By the end of the rally, the lead was one run. In the bottom of the fourth inning, De La Cruz came through again when slugged his 23rd home run of the season, a two-run drive to right-center field, that gave the Reds a 6-3 lead. It was his second homer in two days.

Milwaukee scored three runs off Singer in the top of the fifth inning, including Brice Turang's game-tying two-run double to right field. But De La Cruz picked up his team again when his bases-loaded double to center field scored Juan Brito and Héctor Rodríguez, giving the Reds the lead for good.

It was the Reds' first home series win over the Brewers since 2022.