Reds set new season highs in runs, hits in rout of Rockies (2024)

DENVER – When the Reds were going good in April, the recipe's flavor punch was Elly De La Cruz and its consistency was Spencer Steer. When both hitters lacked results, so did the team as it limped through a brutally tough schedule and 9-18 record for the month of May.

Not only did De La Cruz and Steer make their contributions felt, the entire lineup contributed to the offensive pot as Cincinnati enjoyed Monday's 13-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field. With season highs in runs and hits (18), every Reds batter in the game had at least one knock.

“It’s fun when everybody gets a little piece of the action," Steer said after the Reds won for the seventh time in their last 10 games.

As the Reds jumped out to a 14-10 record by April 24, De La Cruz was hitting .313 with a 1.063 OPS and seven home runs. In the 34 games that followed entering Monday, he batted .182 with a .540 OPS.

"Sometimes when you’re struggling, you’re searching," manager David Bell said of De La Cruz pregame. "But I do think every time he takes a step forward and has a good stretch like he did, it’s going to shorten this one. He has his experiences to kind of draw from. It’s normal. I hate to see him struggling. We know he’s going to get through it.”

In his first plate appearance of the game, De La Cruz hit a 109.7 mph rocket for an out to right field. It was a 1-1 game in the top of the third inning when he scorched a two-out RBI double to left-center field that snapped an 0-for-16 skid.

De La Cruz noted he didn't make any changes to his approach while he struggled.

“You just have to stick to your process, your routine, the same thing that happens all the time," De La Cruz said via translator Jorge Merlos. "There’s always going to be highs and lows in this game. You just have to keep going with the same.”

After De La Cruz's hit, Jeimer Candelario followed by hitting Ryan Feltner's 1-0 pitch for a two-run home run to right field to give the Reds a 4-1 lead.

Candelario, one of the veterans in the lineup, who went through a very slow start to his season, kept his conversations with De La Cruz positive throughout.

“This game is about confidence," Candelario said. "We all know that sometimes our confidence goes a little on the side. But we have to work really hard and try to hug it. Right now, everybody has ups and downs. You have to keep working hard. If you can hit, you’re going to hit.”

Will Benson, who is batting .205 this season, had the hit that put the Rockies away with his two-run triple to right field that made it a 6-3 game. Benson also hit a single to right-center field in the third and scored and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

“Even when he was struggling a little bit, he was still finding a way to help us win games and get on base," Bell said. "We also know how hard he can hit the ball. He’s shown his ability to do that. Tonight, I thought he looked great at the plate obviously.”

Steer added two more runs in the sixth with his two-out, two-run single during his three-hit game.

Steer had a .267 average and .844 OPS over the first 24 games but batted .176 with a .629 OPS in May. The difference between him and De La Cruz was that Steer was hitting the ball hard and having consistently good at-bats without results.

In his last three games, Steer is 8-for-14 (.571).

“I just think hitting is contagious," Steer said. "It doesn’t matter who is hot or who is getting the hits. When you jump on a team early like we did, the hits just kind of seem to keep coming. I think the offense has been doing really well the past couple of weeks.”

Reds starter Andrew Abbott settled in after initially laboring to pitch six innings with three earned runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out six. Colorado briefly made it a close game with two runs in the bottom of the third, including Brendan Rodgers' solo homer to left-center field. After that, the lefty allowed only three more hits -- all singles.

Between May 27 and June 30, the Reds are not only playing multiple National League Central rivals; they're also facing many teams with losing records.

That makes this a critical stretch to take care of business and for the key hitters to play their part.