CINCINNATI -- If Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz want to go back-and-forth for the team lead in home runs over the final week of this season, the Reds would be thrilled.
Something like that could possibly help boost Cincinnati's diminishing odds of reaching the postseason, especially if that means De La Cruz is heating up again.
With two home runs in Friday's 7-4 Reds win over the Cubs at Great American Ball Park, Steer ever-so-briefly took the team lead from the struggling De La Cruz.
“I had to let him know I beat him to 20," Steer said about De La Cruz.
On the very next pitch in the sixth inning, De La Cruz promptly ended his extended long-ball drought with his own 20th homer.
For the first time since July 31, De La Cruz enjoyed the team home run celebration of being sprayed with prop $100 bills in the dugout.
“I feel really good hitting a home run again," De La Cruz said.
Together, the duo helped the Reds get their third consecutive win and fourth in their last five games. The only leaderboard the Reds (78-76) truly need to worry about, of course, is the National League Wild Card standings. Since the Mets (80-74) won vs. the Nationals, Cincinnati remained two games back with eight remaining.
“Now for a couple of games, [Steer] has kind of put us on his back," manager Terry Francona said. "It was nice to see Elly drive the ball the other way and get rewarded for it. If we can get him hot, boy would that really give us a big lift.”
Overall, the Reds hit a season-high five homers as a team.
“We’re not a team that ordinarily lives with that but we’ll certainly take it," Francona said of his team, which is ranked 21st in MLB in homers.
With two outs in the first inning against Shota Imanaga, Miguel Andujar got it started with a drive into the left-field seats. Matt McLain went deep to left-center field in the third inning.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo labored for 4 2/3 innings while allowing two homers among his four earned runs and nine hits. Dansby Swanson took Lodolo deep to center field in the second inning and Matt Shaw's two-out, two-run drive to left field in the fourth gave the Cubs a 4-2 lead. But the Cincinnati bullpen, well-rested after Hunter Greene's shutout on Thursday, provided 4 1/3 scoreless innings to prevent add-on runs.
Steer's 19th homer of the season was a two-out drive to left-center field off Imanaga in the bottom of the fourth inning. Cincinnati evened the game in the fifth inning on TJ Friedl's two-out single to left field that scored Ke'Bryan Hayes.
Home run No. 20 for Steer on a drive to left-center field not only put the Reds in the lead, it continued his hot month. He's batting .357 with 1.152 OPS in his last 11 games. The week began, however, with Steer missing two games at St. Louis on Monday and Tuesday with a rib that popped out of place in his back. A chiropractor put it back into place.
“Crazy how this game works sometimes," Steer said.
On Wednesday, Steer hit a homer and tied a career-high with five RBIs in a win over the Cardinals. He's also played through a sore quadriceps.
“It’s like he gets better when he’s banged up," Francona said. "He’s done a good job. It’s not just two games this past week but those are really big games.”
De La Cruz, who was stuck at 19 homers for 43 straight games since Aug. 1, didn't mind that Steer moved past him momentarily.
“That’s OK. I’m proud of Spencer. I’m happy for him," De La Cruz said.
After Steer went deep against right-handed reliever Porter Hodge, De La Cruz did likewise on the very next pitch, batting left-handed, to make it a three-run game. It was an opposite-field drive into the first row of left field seats.
It was just De La Cruz's second homer in 75 games since June 24. Between his July 31 homer and Friday, he was batting .205 with a .545 OPS in those 43 homerless games.
“Just coming to the ballpark with the same mentality -- positive -- every day," De La Cruz said.
“I hope it took some weight off his shoulders because man, he’s the heart of this team. When he goes, we go," Steer said. “He’s a game changer. He can take over a game. He can take over a series. He’s that kind of player."