De La Cruz joins exclusive 20/60 club with 60th steal of '24
Reds speedster just the 5th AL/NL player since 1900 to achieve the feat
TORONTO -- On the same night that one generational face of the Reds' franchise retired from baseball, the current one achieved a rare feat.
It took a little while, but shortstop Elly De La Cruz became one of the rare 20/60 players in Major League Baseball on Wednesday.
During an 11-7 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with a homer in the eighth and an easy steal of third base in the top of the fifth inning. Later in the fifth, he scored the tying run by beating the throw from shortstop with a slide into the plate after Tyler Stephenson grounded into a fielder's choice.
The steal made De La Cruz just the fifth AL/NL player since 1900 to hit at least 20 home runs and steal 60 bases in a season. Leading off the eighth inning, he slugged his 22nd homer of the season with an opposite-field drive to left field.
De La Cruz, who has zoomed his way past historical markers throughout his two-season big league career, joined Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023), Eric Davis (1986), Rickey Henderson (1985-86, 1990), and Joe Morgan (1973, 1976) in the 20/60 club.
Like De La Cruz, Morgan and Davis achieved their feats while playing for Cincinnati.
That steal against the Blue Jays ended a season-high 11-game drought without a swiped bag for De La Cruz. The longest such stretch of his career was 22 games in 2023.
De La Cruz's homer capped the biggest comeback win of the season for Cincinnati, which trailed 6-0 after three innings. It also helped the Reds take two of three in the series.
In the fourth inning, De La Cruz was thrown out trying to stretch a leadoff single into a double. But he was picked up with two outs, when Spencer Steer hit a two-run homer to ignite the Reds' offense. After De La Cruz tied the game in the fifth, Cincinnati took the lead on a bases-loaded walk by Santiago Espinal that scored Stephenson.
Noelvi Marte and Jonathan India added back-to-back homers during a three-run sixth inning.