Reds’ Elly De La Cruz discusses his 2025 MLB All-Star Game selection
Cincinnati Reds: Elly De La Cruz discusses his 2025 MLB All-Star Game selection
The best start of the four Chase Burns has logged so far for the Cincinnati Reds wasn’t enough to spur the team a win.
Making his fourth big league start on Friday, July 11, Burns went six innings with 10 strikeouts, three walks, and allowed two earned runs, but he did so in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park before a crowd of 31,092.
Facing the Nos. 9, 1 and 2 hitters in the Reds’ lineup to begin the ninth inning, Rockies reliever Victor Vodnik allowed a leadoff, line drive double off the left-field wall to Santiago Espinal but still managed to shut the game down. Vodnik would then strike out T.J. Friedl and Matt McLain, and issue Elly De La Cruz’s third intentional walk of the game.Â
That set the table for Cincinnati’s Austin Hays, but Hays struck out after all three of De La Cruz’s intentional passes. The last of those ended the game.
“Austin had a tough night tonight,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “We’ll take him in that situation all the rest of the year, believe me.”
Hays went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. He hadn’t gone 0-for-5 in a game or struck out four times in a game since his 2023 season with the Baltimore Orioles.
De La Cruz walked four times in all, and hit this third triple of the season in his other at-bat, raising his batting average to .282.
The Reds opened the scoring in the third inning when Noelvi Marte launched a solo home run to left field that cleared the wall easily. In the next Rockies at-bat, after a walk to the leadoff batter Michael Toglia, Ryan McMahon took Burns’ offering halfway up the right field grandstand for a 2-1 lead.
“He (Burns) was throwing the ball extremely aggressively,” Francona said. “He tried to get a get-me-over curveball first pitch to McMahon… Other than that, he was terrific.
“This kid’s learning on the fly. There’s so much to like about him. Wish he wouldn’t have thrown one breaking ball. I’m sure he feels the same way. There’s so much to like about this kid.”
Burns (no decision, 0-1) was in line for the loss until Will Benson scored to tie the game, 2-2, on a T.J. Friedl ground out in the seventh inning.
“I felt like it was a big improvement from the last start,” Burns said. “I felt there was one mistake that happened… I’m trying to improve every start.”
The Rockies would re-take the lead in their next at-bat, though, as Tony Santillan loaded the bases and skipped a wild pitch to the backstop, allowing the go-ahead run for 3-2 to score. That run proved decisive.