NEW YORK– It was another big series-opening win for the Reds, 5-4 over the Yankees in New York, last night. It made starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft, who got 5 strong innings in, a winner on the season so far, at 5 & 4. New York’s Luis Gil took the loss.
The Cincinnati offense really fired up when Elly De La Cruz led off the 4th inning with a triple, then trotted across the plate for the game’s first score on a ground ball. Stuart Fairchild got hit by a pitch to start the 5th, and Will Benson hit a homer immediately after. Moments later, Jonathan India was struck by a pitched ball too, and following that, it was De La Cruz slamming his 15th homer of the season.
Cincinnati built a 5-nothing lead, but watched as the Yankees started chipping away, a big chip being 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning. But relief pitchers Fernando Cruz and Alexis Diaz combined late in the game to shut the Yanks down in the last couple innings, Diaz posting his 18th save this season, again the final 5-4. Can Cincy repeat now? They’ve opened each of their last several series with victories, only to lose the other games.
The Reds try to make it 2 in a row this evening, and the broadcast comes to you at 6:35, on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.