Elly De La Cruz talks Reds’ win over Yankees
Cincinnati Reds SS Elly De La Cruz upstaged Aaron Judge and the Yankees for the second year in a row, going 3-for-4 with a HR, 3B in Monday’s opener.
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz appeared to hesitate on a relay to home plate as the New York Yankees‘ Ben Rice scored on a sacrifice fly in the 5th inning by Anthony Volpe.
Fanduel Sports Network analyst Barry Larkin, a National Baseball Hall of Famer and former Reds great, said De La Cruz’s indecision over where to throw could’ve been avoided.
“Elly’s back is to the play, so the assumption’s that the runner is tagging,” Larkin said. “And the throw just comes in (late). There’s got to be a lot of communication. They’ve got to be screaming at Elly because his back is to the play. He can’t forecast that.”
“Yeah, but that’s where his teammates need to be telling him, ‘Home! Home! Home!'” play-by-play announcer John Sadak said.
“Correct,” Larkin added. “Yeah, Elly’s back is to that runner at third base. And you don’t want to assume anything. But I’m assuming he just reacted to the crowd – the crowd noise.”
“That’s a hard one to – I mean I didn’t see it. I was shocked as anybody,” Reds manager Terry Francona told reporters after the game. “I’m looking to watch the other runs because that’s a run. And I wanted to see who’s gonna tag and where. I don’t think anybody saw it.”
Francona met with De La Cruz to discuss his baserunning gaffe during Cincinnati’s 5-4 win in extra innings, and De La Cruz vowed that it wouldn’t happen again.