Bleday, De La Cruz Torch Arizona in 11-5 Cincinnati Rout
Cincinnati put up 11 runs on six home runs and never trailed, handing Arizona a 11-5 loss on August 23. JJ Bleday went 4-for-6 with a homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored, while Elly De La Cruz matched him hit-for-hit at 4-for-6 with a homer and 4 runs scored.
The Reds wasted no time. Bleday doubled to right in the first to score De La Cruz, and Cincinnati never looked back. By the time the third inning was done, Bleday had added a triple to center that scored Stewart — the play that swung Arizona's home win probability from 53% to 37%, a 16-point shift that effectively announced this game's direction — and Stephenson cashed him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. The fourth inning was where Arizona's night truly unraveled: a Stewart single, another Stephenson sacrifice fly, and a successful Cincinnati challenge that overturned a call and allowed McLain's walk to count as a run-scoring play pushed the lead to 6-0 before Arenado hit a solo shot to left at 368 feet to get Arizona on the board. It was a consolation prize in a very bad inning.
Cincinnati kept swinging. De La Cruz went deep to right at 427 feet in the fifth to push it to 7-1, and Bleday answered Arizona's two-run Tawa homer in the sixth — a 391-foot shot to left center that briefly made it 8-4 — by having already gone yard himself at 370 feet to right earlier that frame. Rodríguez then launched one 424 feet to right center in the seventh, Stephenson singled home De La Cruz in the same inning, and McLain capped the scoring with a 395-foot shot to left center in the eighth. Six Cincinnati players went deep. That's not a hot streak — that looks like a lineup operating at a different level entirely.
Rhett Lowder did his job without being dominant: 6.0 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout. He didn't need to be sharp because the offense was doing the heavy lifting from the jump. Luis Mey and Tejay Antone each threw a clean inning of relief, combining for 3 strikeouts and allowing just 1 earned run between them. Arizona got contributions from Arenado (1-for-3, homer, 3 runs scored) and Tawa (2-for-4, homer, 2 RBI), but the story of the night was Cincinnati's offense turning this into a blowout before Arizona's bullpen even had a chance to stabilize things. Six home runs, 11 runs, and a final score that wasn't particularly close — the Reds came to Arizona and made a statement.