Cincinnati Reds Start Fast, Beat Chicago White Sox 11-1 in Series Opener

The Reds are 7-6 on the season.

Author:
James Rapien
Apr 13, 2024

In this story:

Cincinnati Reds

Elly De La Cruz

Graham Ashcraft

Chicago White Sox

CINCINNATI — Elly De La Cruz stayed hot and the Reds snapped a two-game losing streak with an 11-1 win over the White Sox on Friday night. It's the most runs they've scored in a game this season.

Cincinnati led wire-to-wore, scoring a run in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. First, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a sacrifice fly to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Strand scored on a single by Jake Fraley in the third inning to make it 2-0.

De La Cruz did the rest. The 22-year-old star hit a three-run homer later in the third inning to give Cincinnati a 5-0 advantage. De La Cruz has four home runs in the past four games. He also had a single on Friday night. He's reached base in every game this season.

Tyler Stephenson hit a solo homer to make it 6-0 and cap off a five run third inning for the road team.

The White Sox scored in the bottom of the inning on a double by Robbie Grossman that made it 6-1.

Andrew Abbott got the start for the Reds, allowing just one run on four hits in seven innings. He also had three strikeouts and didn't issue a walk. It was the longest start by a Reds pitcher this season and by far his best outing of the year so far.

Encarnacion-Strand continued his stellar play with a two RBI single in the eighth inning. Santiago Espinal hit a two-run single in the ninth for good measure. He finished 2-for-4 with three RBI.

Emilio Pagan and Buck Farmer pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

The Reds improve to 7-6 on the season. They snapped a two-game losing streak.

Up Next

The Reds play the White Sox on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. ET in game two of the series.

It's the longest outing of the season for any Cincinnati starter, as Andrew Abbott goes seven innings against the White Sox.

It's his longest outing since he went eight innings on July 20, 2023.

Here is his final line:

7 IP | 4 H | 1 ER | 0 BB | 3 K
103 pitches@Reds pic.twitter.com/qmfTVz0B83
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) April 13, 2024