Elly De La Cruz becomes the youngest player to hit for the cycle since 1972 as Reds win 12 straight

There’s something magical happening in Cincinnati and that’s thanks in part to the bat of the Reds hot rookie Elly De La Cruz.

On Friday night, De La Cruz hit for the cycle – a major accomplishment of its own. But the fact that he did so in just his 15th major league game requires further examination.

De La Cruz started his night off against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning with a double. In the following inning, he smacked a two-run home run to right center to pull Cincinnati back to within one run of the Braves’ 5-4 lead.

An RBI single to center came in the fifth inning – meaning all he needed at his next at-bat was a triple.

In the sixth inning, he did just that: hitting a perfect pitch into the gap in right center field and hustling around the bases as the ball reached the wall. De La Cruz beat the throw from cutoff man Ozzie Albies by miles as he got to third base with ease.

Elly De La Cruz hit for the cycle, becoming the first Reds player to do so since 1989

With that, De La Cruz added his name to a number of team and major league records.

He became the first Cincinnati Reds player to hit for the cycle since Eric Davis in 1989 – and only becoming the seventh member of the Reds to accomplish the feat.

Moreover, the rookie is the youngest player to hit for the cycle since 1972. Plus, at just 15 games into his career, it’s the third shortest stint before a cycle in the big leagues since 1900.

On top of it all, per Opta Stats, De La Cruz is the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to hit for the cycle, steal a base, and drive in more than four runs.

He did all of that by the sixth inning of the game.

But it wasn’t over for the Reds – even by that major accomplishment from De La Cruz. The triple drove in Jonathan India to make it an 11-7 Cincinnati lead.

However, in the top of the eighth inning, Reds pitcher Lucas Sims gave up three solo home runs within four at bats to make it an 11-10 ball game as Cincinnati’s lead was cut to just one.

But the Reds held on, surrendering no more runs and winning their 12th consecutive game.

With this slide into third base, De La Cruz completed his cycle with an outstanding triple

He also drove in four runs to help the Reds win 12 straight for the first time since 1957

That’s a franchise milestone as well – as this becomes the first Reds team to hit 12 consecutive wins in a season in 66 years.

That feat was last accomplished by the Reds team of 1957, a team that incidentally boasted All-Star outfielder Gus Bell – the grandfather of the Reds’ current manager, David Bell.

With this win, the Reds now lead in the NL Central by one-and-a-half games over the Milwaukee Brewers.

If they keep this up, they’ll win the division for the first time since 2012 and make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.