Elly De La Cruz Has Big Day in Reds' Loss to Rockies

The Cincinnati Reds lost to the Colorado Rockies 10-4 on Saturday. 

Hunter Greene started his second game of the spring and top prospect Noelvi Marte returned to the field after missing the entire spring with a hamstring injury.

Greene gave up two runs, two hits, two walks and had two strikeouts in three innings.

Elly De La Cruz hit his first home run of the spring. It went high and far (470-feet). De La Cruz drew two walks after hitting the home run.

Tyler Stephenson had a big moment behind the plate as he caught Ezequiel Tovar stealing in an attempt to get to second-base. Tony Kemp was the second baseman at the time.

The Reds also put together a very nice double play in the second-inning as Kemp hit De La Cruz at second base. The Reds star made a perfect throw to Christian Encarnacion-Strand to complete the double play.

Marte’s first hit of spring came in the fourth-inning. He hit a single into center field.

Nick Martinez replaced Braxton Roxby after his short-lived appearance in this game. Nolan Jones hit a double and Brendan Rodgers hit a single off Roxby. Jordan Beck (No. 81 prospect) came in to pinch run for the Rockies, but couldn’t get anything going as Martinez shut down the inning with two strikeouts.

In the sixth-inning, the Reds made tons of substitutions, including:

• Conner Capel replaces Spencer Steer (LF)
• Miguel Hernandez replaces Elly De La Cruz (SS)
• P.J. Higgins replaces Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B)
• Bubba Thompson replaces Jose Barrero (RF)

The Reds got two quick outs before Martinez hit Julio Carreras with a pitch. However, Martinez followed up with an out immediately in the following at-bat.

Kemp had a RBI triple that made it 8-2 in the seventh inning. Conner Capel and Miguel Hernandez both struck out to end the threat.

To start the bottom of the seventh inning the Reds made some substitutions.

• Hector Rodriguez replaces Stuart Fairchild (RF)
• Bubba Thompson switches to (CF)
• Quincy McAfee replaces Tony Kemp (2B)

Martinez had a great inning of work here as he produced two strikeouts and a fly out including a strikeout against the talented minor-league prospect Jordan Beck.

The Reds got off to a good start in the inning as P.J. Higgins kickstarted the eighth inning. Higgins would go on to score on a single by Francisco Urbaez. Mike Firs followed that up with a single and Urbaez scored after Hector Rodriguez grounded into a fielder's choice to cut the lead to 8-4. That was the last time Cincinnati would score.

That was as close as the Reds got, ultimately losing 10-4. They've lost two-straight games.

Check out highlights from the Reds' loss below: