Elly De La Cruz returns to Reds lineup as they look to take series from Astros

The brilliance of Andrew Abbott, timely homering from Tyler Stephenson, and a bullpen made of duct tape and nails led the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-1 victory over the Astros last night in the opener of their weekend series Houston. Today, they’ll turn to Hunter Greene to deliver them a series victory, with Elly De La Cruz back in the lineup hitting cleanup and playing 3B to sock some dingers, too.

That’s probably a thorough enough preview, right?

No?

You’re probably right.

Brandon Bielak will toe the rubber for Dusty Baker’s side today, the Notre Dame product having once been teammates with Cavan Biggio of the Blue Jays and Torii Hunter, Jr. The St. Joseph’s (NJ) product is also one of two players to have made the bigs from his high school, the other being Cincinnati Reds legend Patrick Kivlehan. Bielak has surrendered nearly a pair of homers per 9 IP so far this season, so there’s a prop bet tip for Elly you can pursue with the knowledge that I would never, ever fully endorse such behavior here. Never!

First pitch is set for 4:10 PM ET, and a win today would not only mean a series win for the Reds, it would mean the Reds would surge over the .500 mark for the first time since April 4th.

Go Reds.

Reds Lineup

Stroh’s Lineup

‘Stros Lineup