Reds Offense Explodes Again, Beat Rays 12-6 for Fifth Straight Victory

Led by five home runs, the Reds posted their best day offensively this season in a 12-6 win over the Rays in St. Petersburg Tuesday night. Two of those home runs came by Elly De La Cruz... both from the right side of the plate.

The Reds have now won five straight games, with their record now 16-8 and still in sole possession of first place in the National League Central.

Let's look at how the Reds laid the lumber in a double-up of the Rays Tuesday night, taking the series and now being one win away from a 6-0 road trip.

Takeaways From the Reds' 12-6 Win Over the Rays

Everything Clicked Offensively for the Reds Tuesday Night

Apr 20, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) hits a RBI single in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

You knew it had the chance to be a special night when Ke'Bryan Hayes and Dane Myers hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the second inning. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Dane Myers. When those two guys are producing offensively, that's how you know it's going to be a great night.

It was just that for the Reds. Leading 5-0 at the top of the sixth, the Reds delivered the knockout blow with four runs to make it 9-0. Matt McLain, De La Cruz, and Sal Stewart all delivered RBIs to put the game out of reach. De La Cruz and Stewart also had RBIs in the top of the seventh.

What Tuesday night showed is that not only can the Reds score, but they can come at you in multiple ways offensively. They have multiple ways to impact the game offensively. That's the sign of a team that can be really good. When they don't have one specific way they can score, but rather multiple ways to score, that's when you know the Reds have a good lineup or, at the very least, one that's coming around.

Oh, and I should also mention, De La Cruz homered twice... from the right side of the plate. Talk about a big night offensively for the Reds.

Spencer Steer also homered for the Reds in the top of the fifth.

In total, the Reds scored 12 runs on 10 hits. The Reds also hit five home runs and walked 10 times. Dane Myers, Spencer Steer, and Ke'Bryan Hayes all walked multiple times, with Myers leading the team with three.

Chase Burns Keeps on Burning

Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the Reds' offensive onslaught Tuesday night was Chase Burns. Coming into Tuesday night, Burns had only gotten four runs of run support in four starts. Tuesday night, he got four runs in two innings. It must be nice to pitch with a great margin of error.

Burns struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two earned runs on four hits and only walking two. He threw 97 pitches, with 63 for strikes.

This is a young pitcher coming into his own nicely. He carries a healthy confidence to him, which is really impressive for Burns in just his second season and first full season in the Majors.

On Deck

The series finale is Wednesday afternoon in St. Petersburg as the Reds look for the series sweep of the Rays and their sixth straight win. A win would also give the Reds a perfect 6-0 road trip.

Brandon Williamson (2-1, 4.35 ERA) will start against former Red Nick Martinez (0-1, 2.45 ERA).

First pitch is at 1:10 E.T. on Reds.TV and 700WLW.

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