LOS ANGELES (WKRC) – Elly De La Cruz is making history for the Cincinnati Reds — and Major League Baseball — while putting together the hottest home run streak of his career.
De La Cruz homered for a career-high fifth consecutive game Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, crushing a pitch from Yoshinobu Yamamoto 403 feet to center field in the fourth inning. It came one night after De La Cruz jumped on a pitch from Tarik Skubal and launched it 444 feet at Dodger Stadium.
The latest homer put the 24-year-old alongside some of the biggest names in Reds history.
De La Cruz became just the 10th Reds player to homer in five consecutive games, joining Joey Votto, Eugenio Suárez, Jay Bruce, Devin Mesoraco, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench, George Crowe and Ted Kluszewski.
Votto was the most recent Red to accomplish it, doing so in 2021.
De La Cruz’s five-game streak is also tied for the second-longest in MLB this season. Junior Caminero owns the longest at six games.
With 26 homers, he owns the franchise single-season record for HR by a switch hitter, too.
But De La Cruz’s history goes well beyond his current power surge.
He has become the first shortstop in MLB history to produce multiple seasons with at least 25 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 5 bWAR before turning 25.
De La Cruz previously reached the 25-homer, 25-steal marks in 2024 and has done it again in 2026.
That also puts him in elite company within the franchise. De La Cruz is only the third Reds player with multiple 25-homer, 25-steal seasons, joining Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and Eric Davis.
Morgan accomplished it in 1973 and 1976. Davis did it three consecutive times from 1986-88. De La Cruz has now done it in 2024 and 2026.
Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, left, heads to first for a solo home run as Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, center, watches along with catcher Will Smith during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Elly heating up in second half
De La Cruz’s home run streak is part of a strong second half at the plate.
He is batting .298 with a .383 on-base percentage and .924 OPS since the All-Star break. His defense has also improved. After committing 29 errors in 2024 and 26 in 2025, De La Cruz has cut that number to 18 in 2026.
And his arm made history Tuesday.
De La Cruz fired a 102 mph relay throw to home plate to cut down a Dodgers runner attempting an inside-the-park home run. It was the fastest throw by an infielder since Statcast began tracking such plays in 2015.
Now De La Cruz has another chance to make history. One more home run in his next game would give him a six-game streak, tying the longest in MLB this season.