Elly De La Cruz's grand slam the difference in Pirates' loss to Reds

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Apr 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CINCINNATI — On his bobblehead night, the best player on the field showed out.

Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz hit a grand slam in the third inning, providing Cincinnati with all the offense it needed in an eventual 5-2 win Saturday at Great American Ball Park. The Pirates have lost the first two games of the series, dropping their record to 5-10.

De La Cruz’s homer capitalized on a two-inning stretch where Pirates starter Andrew Heaney seemed to lose his command. After throwing seven balls in the first two innings, 23 of Heaney’s 45 pitches were outside the strike zone in the third and fourth, leading to two walks and two hit batters. The two batters before De La Cruz in the third inning were both hit by pitches.

Heaney was solid otherwise. He gave up four runs in six innings, striking out six and giving up three hits.

Center fielder Alexander Canario had his best day as a Pirate, hitting a solo homer, his first in Pittsburgh, in the fifth inning. He also walked twice, reaching in his first three plate appearances, and scored on an Enmanuel Valdez double in the seventh.

The Pirates had life until the seventh. With runners at the corners and one out, No. 9 hitter Jose Trevino rolled a weak grounder to shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a near-perfect double play ball. Kiner-Falefa fielded cleanly and made a good throw, only for Valdez to entirely fail to catch it.

De La Cruz was up again with the bases loaded, but reliever Tim Mayza got De La Cruz to ground into a fielder’s choice.

The Pirates went weakly in the ninth inning, as Reds closer Emilio Pagan picked up his second save in two nights.

It was over when …

Valdez’s error gave the Reds a fifth run, a three-run lead and all of their momentum back. The Pirates didn’t seem likely to score two more runs, but were even less likely to score three.

On the mound

Reliever Kyle Nicolas, promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, made his season debut in the seventh inning. He allowed a single and a walk to start the inning, but should have gotten away with it on Trevino’s grounder. Instead, he pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed one earned run.

Mayza finished the seventh inning and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

At the plate

The Pirates managed just four hits, their fourth consecutive game with six or fewer hits. Canario, who entered the game with an .071 batting average, was the only Pirate to reach base multiple times.

Outfielder Oneil Cruz missed his third consecutive game after being hit in the hand Tuesday. The Pirates missed his offensive production.

Most valuable player

A day after causing chaos on the bases, helping cause catcher Endy Rodriguez’s two-run throwing error, De La Cruz showed why the Reds consider him as the cornerstone of their franchise. His grand slam was the game’s biggest swing, and he also had a leaping catch to take a hit away from Valdez.

Up next

The Pirates will look to avoid a sweep on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. Carmen Mlodzinski (1-1, 5.19 ERA) will throw for Pittsburgh against Reds ace Hunter Greene (1-1, 1.31). Greene pitched 8-2/3 scoreless innings against the Giants in his last start.

The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh and broadcast on the radio on 93.7 The Fan.

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