Elly De La Cruz hits a grand slam to power Reds past Pirates 5-2

CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz hit his second career grand slam, Andrew Abbott allowed a run over five innings in his season debut, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Saturday night.

De La Cruz’s grand slam on a 3-2 pitch from Pirates lefty Andrew Heaney with two outs in the third put Cincinnati ahead 4-0. His other grand slam came on Sept. 13 against the Twins.

Alexander Canario hit his first home run of the season for Pittsburgh leading off the fifth. It was one of two hits allowed by Abbott, who made his first start since Aug. 18 when his season ended with a strained left shoulder.

Abbott (1-0) made two starts in spring training and a pair of minor league rehab starts before being activated from the 15-day injured list on Saturday.

Heaney (0-1) allowed three hits, walked two and fanned six.

De La Cruz came to bat with the bases loaded again in the seventh but grounded into a force play. No Reds batter has hit two grand slams in a game.

Emilio Pagán pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the season.

By winning the first two in a three-game series against the Pirates, Cincinnati has won two straight series after dropping the first three to begin the season.

Key moment

De La Cruz’s grand slam broke a scoreless tie in the third. It’s also a sign he could be emerging from an early-season slump. He was batting .153 (6 for 39) in April and hadn’t homered since going deep twice on March 31 against Texas.

Key stat

Abbott’s return is a key addition for a Reds rotation that already ranked fifth in baseball with a 2.96 ERA.

Up next

Reds right-hander Hunter Greene (1-1, 1.31 ERA) opposes Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski (1-1, 5.19 ERA) on Sunday.

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