De La Cruz Delivers Twice as Cincinnati Edges Pittsburgh 3-2

Elly De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to lift Cincinnati past Pittsburgh 3-2 on July 30. Brandon Lowe's 402-foot home run in the sixth briefly flipped the script, but Cincinnati had the last word.

Cincinnati struck first and struck hard in the third inning. De La Cruz doubled to center to score McLain, and Sal Stewart followed with a single to right that plated De La Cruz — a two-run burst that put Pittsburgh in an early 0-2 hole. Rhett Lowder was doing his part on the mound, working 6.0 innings and allowing just 2 earned runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts and zero walks. That's a clean, efficient outing, and it looks like Lowder gave Cincinnati exactly the length they needed to hold on.

Pittsburgh chipped away. A sacrifice fly in the fifth cut the deficit to 1-2, and then came the moment that briefly rewrote the story: Brandon Lowe crushed a solo shot 402 feet to right in the sixth to tie it at 2. The win probability swung from 64% to 43% in Cincinnati's favor on that swing — a 21-point lurch that made this feel like a different game. Pittsburgh's bullpen had been holding things together, with Yohan Ramirez and Noah Murdock combining for 4.0 scoreless innings between them, though Murdock did issue 3 walks in his two frames. Hunter Barco, however, gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs over 3.0 innings, and that's where Cincinnati eventually found the crack.

The ninth inning is where De La Cruz cemented his night. With the game tied, he reached base and scored on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop by Nathaniel Lowe — a messy but effective play that sent Stephenson out at second and Stewart to third, but more importantly put Cincinnati ahead 3-2 for good. De La Cruz finishing 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored is the story of this game — he was the engine in the third and the run that ended it in the ninth. Pittsburgh's offense managed only 2 runs on what appears to have been a night where they couldn't sustain pressure against Lowder, and the late-game bullpen situation ultimately couldn't protect the tie. Cincinnati takes this one, 3-2.