Elly De La Cruz hit his first career grand slam, and the Cincinnati Reds surged to an 8-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night in Minneapolis.
De La Cruz recorded his milestone as part of a six-run seventh inning for the Reds (72-77), who won the opener of a three-game series. TJ Friedl finished 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, and Ty France doubled and drove in a run.
Byron Buxton hit a solo home run in his return from injury for Minnesota (78-69). Rookie Brooks Lee added a two-run single, and Willi Castro tallied one RBI.
Reds right-hander Julian Aguiar (2-0) allowed three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (12-7) surrendered five runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and fanned six.
Cincinnati opened the scoring in the top of the second. Friedl hit a solo shot to right field for his 12th homer.
The Twins evened the score at 1-1 on Buxton’s solo home run in the fifth. In his first game since hip soreness forced him to the injured list Aug. 12, he pulled an off-speed pitch into the bleachers for his 17th homer.
The score remained tied until the Reds erupted for six runs in the seventh.
After a leadoff triple by Spencer Steer, Friedl gave Cincinnati a 2-1 lead with an RBI bunt single. France hit an RBI double in the next at-bat to make it 3-1.
The Reds soon loaded the bases with two outs for De La Cruz, who swung at the first pitch and belted it 398 feet and over the wall in right-center field. It marked his 24th homer of the season and his first grand slam in 245 career games.
Minnesota responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull within 7-4. Castro hit an RBI single to left, and Lee hit a two-run single to right.
Friedl gave the Reds an insurance run in the eighth. His RBI single drove in Steer and increased Cincinnati’s advantage to 8-4.