KANSAS CITY – Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz did everything in his power to help Brady Singer have a happy reunion in Kansas City.
Special emphasis on “power.”
De La Cruz launched two massive solo homers totaling a Statcast-projected combined 887 feet while Singer pitched seven strong innings of two-run ball as the Reds beat the Royals, 7-2, on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
For Singer, it was the first appearance at Kauffman since the trade that sent him to Cincinnati last November for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer. Singer trailed 2-1 until the fourth inning when De La Cruz went to work.
De La Cruz hit a Statcast-projected 436-foot homer over the center-field wall to tie it and then outdid himself in the sixth with a 451-foot blast that wound up in the upper deck of the right-center-field fountains to give Cincinnati the lead.
De La Cruz became the first player this year, and the first Reds hitter under Statcast tracking (since 2015), with multiple homers of 435-plus feet in the same game. In addition, with his exit velocity homers registering 111.1 mph and 112.5 mph, he is the first Reds player with 110-plus mph homers in the same game under Statcast.
Singer delivered 99 pitches against his former teammates and allowed seven hits and two runs. Four of those hits came in Kansas City’s two-run second inning. After that, Singer set down 12 of the next 14 batters he faced to aid a series win on the road.
“I kind of got the emotional stuff out of the way [Monday],” Singer said. “I just went out there to win a game and the offense did an incredible job. I settled in after the second inning and just made some quality pitches.”
Singer was acquired by the Reds primarily because the Royals coveted India as a leadoff hitter. India was in the leadoff spot Tuesday and had two hits. But the Royals didn’t have nearly enough ammunition to offset Singer or Cincinnati’s long-ball barrage.
A day earlier, Singer had described Kauffman Stadium as a “massive” park. But De La Cruz made the big park look small.
“Electric player,” Singer said of De La Cruz. “He’s a game-changer. He can change a game with one swing and then go on defense and do it that way. Not too many fountain balls that I’ve seen here. That was one of them.”
Tyler Stephenson had provided Cincinnati’s first run with a homer that cleared the center-field wall in the second. Then, after the Royals rallied to take a 2-1 lead, De La Cruz struck with a vengeance.
“I’ve been feeling comfortable the whole year,” said De La Cruz, who now has 11 homers after his second multi-homer game of the season. “Sometimes you don’t get the result that you want.”
Royals manager Matt Quatraro felt the key for De La Cruz was his ability to lay off the changeup.
“Both of those homers were heaters,” Quatraro said.
The Reds have now had consecutive seven-inning starts in Kansas City after having just one seven-inning start in their previous 26 games.
Reds manager Terry Francona got the word at the game’s outset that Singer had looked sharp in his bullpen warmups. Singer carried that over to the game and wound up taking some pressure off Cincinnati’s bullpen.
“[Singer] was in this [Royals] organization for a long time and has a lot of love for this place,” said Reds catcher Jose Trevino. “It was a big start for him and a big start for us as a team.”