CINCINNATI — TJ Friedl hit a three-run homer on a four-hit night, rookie Elly De La Cruz added a solo shot and the Cincinnati Reds extended their winning streak to 10 games with an 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
Will Benson had a solo homer in the sixth, helping the NL Central-leading Reds to their longest winning streak since 2012, when they also won 10 straight. De La Cruz had three hits as fans chanted “Elly! Elly!”
Jorge Alfaro‘s three-run homer in the eighth, which bounced off the top of the fence in center, couldn’t keep the Rockies from their seventh straight loss.
The Reds scored two runs in the fifth with the help of three throwing errors by Colorado right-hander Peter Lambert, two on attempted pickoffs at second.
Nolan Jones hit a solo homer off Cincinnati right-hander Ben Lively in the first, setting up the Reds for their National League-best 25th come-from-behind win.
Lively allowed a season-high four walks and gave up three hits and two runs with four strikeouts in four innings.
Alex Young (2-0), the second of six Cincinnati pitchers, faced the minimum three batters in the fifth for the victory. Alexis Diaz allowed a run before escaping a bases-loaded jam his 20th save in 20 opportunities.
Friedl followed back-to-back two-out walks by Benson and Curt Casali, the eighth and ninth batters in Cincinnati’s lineup, with a drive into the first row of the right- field seats off right-hander Noah Davis in the second.
The switch-hitting De La Cruz went opposite field to left in the third for his second homer since being called up June 6. Spencer Steer added an RBI double in the inning.
The speedy De La Cruz reached in the fifth with a single off the body of Lambert, who threw the ball away after collecting it. De La Cruz went to third on an errant pickoff try and scored on Jake Fraley‘s double.
Davis (0-2) also set a season high with four walks.
