Elly De La Cruz's onslaught vs. Rangers overshadows Reds' newcomer's impressive debut

Elly De La Cruz exploded for two home runs and seven RBI during Monday night's romp over the Texas Rangers. De La Cruz hit his first home run of the 2025 season — a no doubter to right-center field during the bottom of the second inning. De La Cruz then launched another round-tripper into the Cincinnati night sky to put the Reds up 14-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

On the night, De La Cruz was 4-for-5 and fell just a triple shy of the cycle while also stealing his first base of the season. De La Cruz, who was bundled up due to the cold temperatures at the ballpark, was red-hot at the dish.

Brady Singer overshadowed by Elly De La Cruz in Reds game vs. Rangers

But while Elly-mania had all of Great American Ball Park in an uproar, Reds' newcomer Brady Singer calmly dispatched of nearly every Rangers hitter he faced during his Cincinnati debut on Monday night.

Singer went seven strong, struck out eight batters, walked just two, and allowed only one hit — a double off the bat of Adolis Garcia in the third inning. Singer was lifted after the seventh having thrown 92 pitches.

The right-hander was in the strike zone all night, repeatedly dominating the opposition, and oftentimes getting ahead of the Rangers' batters with first-pitch strikes. It was an impressive Reds' debut for Singer.

But the night belonged to De La Cruz. The Reds shortstop even upstaged his double-play partner. Matt McLain got the night started with a two-run home run in the first inning, and helped set the stage of De La Cruz's three-run blast in the third. Spencer Steer and Jake Fraley finally got into the action as well, as both recorded their first base knocks of the 2025 campaign.

The Rangers waved the white flag in the eighth inning and sent in Ezequiel Duran, a position player, to pitch. The Reds won the game going away, despite the fact Texas finally scratched across a couple runs while Sam Moll and Brent Suter were on the bump. The Reds got their second win of the season and will send Carson Spiers to the hill on Tuesday night for Game 2 of the three-game series.

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