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 a go-ahead two-run double in the bottom of the fifth.
“How about that? He does it all," manager Terry Francona said about De La Cruz catching the bird.
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. Then, Singer looked like he was about to attempt to scoop the bird up 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 grabbing the bird with his batting glove-covered hands and took it off the field.
“I saw the guys struggling with it, so I went out and got it," De La Cruz said.
De La Cruz received some applause and was seen laughing in the dugout as play resumed.
“I guess it was hurt, I don’t know," Singer said of the bird. "I tried to get him off there. I would have just picked him up, but Elly came out and grabbed it. I thought he’d fly away, but he wouldn’t.”
Until that point, the Brewers were hitless. That changed when Jake Bauers hit a two-run homer to cut Cincinnati's lead to 4-2. By the end of the fourth-inning rally, the Reds led by one run.
However, in the bottom of the fourth inning and batting righty against lefty pitcher Kyle Harrison, De La Cruz came through again. He 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 De La Cruz's second homer in two days. De La Cruz has a 1.083 OPS when batting right-handed this season, compared to just a .618 OPS from the right side in 2025.
“It means I’m doing good," De La Cruz said. "I’m putting a lot of work in here before I go out there. I’ve just got to execute.”
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 — batting lefty against righty reliever Antonio Senzatela — picked his team up again when his bases-loaded double to left-center field scored Juan Brito and Héctor Rodríguez, giving the Reds the lead for good.
“[De La Cruz] obviously had a great game and is super fun to watch," said Singer, who allowed six runs, six hits and a career-high six walks over five innings, but got the victory. "He obviously means a lot to this team and this city, so for him to do what he’s doing is really cool.”
Sunday marked the fourth time in the last six games that De La Cruz was the DH following his leaving the Reds’ Aug. 30 game with left quadriceps tightness. It's a role he usually dislikes.
“I think he’s warming up to the designated hitter idea a little bit," Francona said. "He’s doing a very good job. He’s regulating [himself], but he still got back and tagged up on the ball to right field [in the seventh], easily going to second. Those are big plays, an extra 90 feet. On the ball he hit to left-center, he knew nobody was on second, so he just kind of glided in. He sees the field very well.”
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 won three straight series over contending clubs in the Cubs, Padres and now the Brewers, owners of the best record in baseball.
Sunday marked the Reds' first home series win over the Brewers since May 9-11, 2022.
“We’re playing loose, having fun, enjoying it," Singer said. "The offense has done really good. It’s been a fun couple of weeks. Just keep going, see what happens.”