Hall of Fame antidote: Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw slows Elly De La Cruz, Reds
It took three days, but the megabucks, star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers finally figured out how to stop Elly De La Cruz and, by extension, the Cincinnati Reds.
Hall of Fame pitching.
Whether that someday proves to be an example of “it takes one to beat one,” on this day it was an example of Clayton Kershaw showing why he has spent much of his career being called the greatest pitcher on the planet — if not why he’ll make a 10th career All-Star roster this year.
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As impressive as Kershaw’s nine strikeouts and seven scoreless innings were on Thursday afternoon as the Dodgers averted a Reds sweep at Great American Ball Park with a 6-0 victory, this might have been his most impressive feat:
Of the five hits he allowed in those seven innings, only one — a mere infield single — belonged to De La Cruz, the sensational prospect who caught the attention of fans coast to coast this week for his feats of strength and speed his first two games in the majors.
“As a fan, very exciting. Managing against him, very scary,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Los Angeles writers before the game. “You can hear about the tools, but to see it in action, it’s remarkable.”
Even in a game De La Cruz was limited to the single, he quickly stole second for his first career stolen base — and a piece of history.
According to the Reds broadcast research team, he’s only the second player in history (since 1901) to hit a single, double, triple and home run and also steal a base in his first three big-league games. The other: Bill Bruton in 1953 with the Milwaukee Braves.
Just the night before, De La Cruz hit a 458-foot homer to the back row of the right-field seats and later hit a triple that took him just 10.83 seconds to complete — the fastest home-to-third time in the majors this season.
“He looked like Deion Sanders running around the bases on that triple,” Roberts said. “The ground he covers. The arm strength is an 80 (top scouting grade).
"The pure joy to play this game, not be fazed by his debut — those are unicorns.”
For good measure, he added an unhurried, 86-mph throw to first from third for the final out of the Dodgers fifth — which isn’t even the strongest throw of his three-game big-league career, never mind a minor-league career that included at least one 100-mph throw.
Despite the Reds putting men on base in six innings Thursday, Kershaw and the bullpen thwarted efforts to extend the Reds’ NL-leading total of 19 comeback wins this season.
The Reds finished 3-4 on a homestand against the NL Central-leading Brewers and a Dodgers team that entered the series tied for the NL West lead.
Up next: nine road games in 10 days against the last-place St. Louis Cardinals, last-place Kansas City Royals and defending World Series-champion Houston Astros.
