Elly De La Cruz's Historic Night Powers Reds to 7-2 Win Over Rockies

Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer both homered on Tuesday night, with De La Cruz racking up four RBIs, as the Reds powered past the Rockies 7-2 at Great American Ball Park.

Chase Burns also overpowered the Rockies on the mound, and the Reds' bullpen pitched three shutout innings to preserve their 19th win of the season.

The Reds are now 19-10 on the season, and are still in sole possession of first place in the National League Central. They have also won eight of 10 and 12 of their last 15.

Let's look at the key takeaways from the Reds' 7-2 win over the Rockies Tuesday night in Cincinnati.

Chase Burns with Another Strong Start

Burns has been so good since his subpar outing against the Angels earlier this month. Tuesday night against the Rockies, Burns pitched six innings with nine strikeouts. He only allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk. Of the 97 pitches Burns threw, 64 were for strikes.

Over his last three starts to close his month of April, Burns pitched 17 2/3 innings and allowed just four earned runs. In those three starts, Burns struck out 21 batters and walked just four. Seventeen of those 21 strikeouts have come in his last two starts, in which he also threw 97 pitches in both of those starts.

Perhaps most impressive is that all three of these starts have come in hitter-friendly ballparks. Two of those have come in Great American Ball Park, with the other coming at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Elly De La Cruz Flashes at the Plate... and in the Field

Apr 28, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly de la Cruz (44) reacts after scoring on a two-run home run hit by outfielder Spencer Steer (7) in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

We knew coming into this season that Elly was going to hit. He's doing it all right now at the plate and offensively. Tuesday night at the plate, Elly went 3-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Oh, by the way, he homered on Tuesday with a two-run opposite-field shot in the bottom of the eighth. That's now 10 home runs on the year for De La Cruz.

What was, for lack of a better word, a question coming into this season was Elly's defense. Over the last week, he's been playing like Omar Vizquel at shortstop. Seriously, that's who he reminds me of. The play De La Cruz made in Tampa, diving to his right and throwing a rocket to first, was similar to the one he made Tuesday night.

Look, I know he has three errors. But if Elly makes plays like the ones he's made over these past two weeks, you can live with those occasional errors. De La Cruz currently has a .973 fielding percentage.

John Sadak said on the Reds.TV broadcast that Elly's not even hot right now. Maybe that's true. Maybe it doesn't feel like he is. But De La Cruz has just been consistent all season. Ten home runs, 24 RBIs, 34 hits, eight stolen bases, a .590 slugging percentage, and a .952 OPS.

You can measure a player's greatness by his ability to impact the entire game. That's what Elly is doing right now, and it's amazing to watch him play every day. Literally. Tuesday night was his 248th consecutive game played.

24,152

That's the attendance for Tuesday night's game. It's a testament to the excitment of this Reds team. Even on a Tuesday night, fans are coming to Great American Ball Park. It's great to see.

Up Next

The series between the Reds and Rockies continues Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.

Reds' left-hander Brandon Williamson (2-2, 5.40 ERA) will start against Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1, 3.42 ERA).

First pitch is at 6:40 E.T. on Reds.TV and can be heard on 700WLW.

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