Big free-agent pitcher flirts with no-hitter, star shortstop homers to fuel Reds victory
Now THAT’S what I call a headline!
In the tough slog in which the Cincinnati Reds have found themselves for much of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the city of Denver, Colorado and the home park of the woeful Colorado Rockies was not on their path.
That path changed two days ago, however, when the city of Denver, Colorado and the home ball park of the woeful Colorado Rockies entered the fray and the Reds began to once again resemble the team we once hoped they could be.
Tuesday saw perhaps the pinnacle of that work. Frankie Montas, signed this offseason as a free agent to be the veteran anchor of the team’s pitching staff, took a no-hitter into the 7th inning in the would-be hitter’s paradise. Elly De La Cruz, the up and coming star shortstop who had struggled terribly through the month of May, smashed a homer over the deep, deep CF wall in Coors Field – and did so from his weaker side of the plate.
Spencer Steer? He stayed hot with another pair of hits and a ribbie.
Stuart Fairchild? Used in the proper platoon role and popped out another pair of hits.
Tyler Stephenson? Two more hits in what’s becoming a renaissance season.
Fernando Cruz? Back to making folks look silly with his splitter.
It was precisely the kind of all-around effort we knew the club would need when it opted against signing the biggest of the big names this winter in lieu of putting together a full 26-man roster that would be deeper than any other. Their strength, it is in the sum of their parts, and last night showed that while they may not have more great players than most opponents, they have – when healthy – perhaps more good players than any in the game.
The Reds won 4-1 on the heels of their 13 run outburst on Monday, and in doing so claimed a second consecutive series victory.
They’ll run it back against the Rockies today at 3:10 PM ET with a sweep on the line.
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