Inside The Reds

Cincinnati Reds Start Fast, Beat Chicago White Sox 11-1 in Series Opener

The Reds are 7-6 on the season.

James Rapien

Apr 12, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) celebrates his
Apr 12, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) celebrates his / Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
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CINCINNATI — Elly De La Cruz stayed hot and the Reds snapped a two-game losing streak with an 11-1 win over the White Sox on Friday night. It's the most runs they've scored in a game this season.

Cincinnati led wire-to-wore, scoring a run in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. First, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a sacrifice fly to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Strand scored on a single by Jake Fraley in the third inning to make it 2-0.

De La Cruz did the rest. The 22-year-old star hit a three-run homer later in the third inning to give Cincinnati a 5-0 advantage. De La Cruz has four home runs in the past four games. He also had a single on Friday night. He's reached base in every game this season.

Tyler Stephenson hit a solo homer to make it 6-0 and cap off a five run third inning for the road team.

The White Sox scored in the bottom of the inning on a double by Robbie Grossman that made it 6-1.

Andrew Abbott got the start for the Reds, allowing just one run on four hits in seven innings. He also had three strikeouts and didn't issue a walk. It was the longest start by a Reds pitcher this season and by far his best outing of the year so far.

Encarnacion-Strand continued his stellar play with a two RBI single in the eighth inning. Santiago Espinal hit a two-run single in the ninth for good measure. He finished 2-for-4 with three RBI.

Emilio Pagan and Buck Farmer pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

The Reds improve to 7-6 on the season. They snapped a two-game losing streak.

Up Next

The Reds play the White Sox on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. ET in game two of the series.

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James Rapien
JAMES RAPIEN

James Rapien is the publisher of Bengals, Reds and Bearcats On SI. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati and has spent a decade covering Cincinnati sports. He's the author of Enter The Jungle, a book about the history of the Cincinnati Bengals. Prior to joining SI, Rapien was a host and producer at 700 WLW and ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati.