The Reds have been scuffling lately, but on Saturday night in Phoenix they put together one of the wildest offensive lines you'll see all year. JJ Bleday went 4-for-6 with 3 RBIs and hit for the cycle, becoming the 8th player in Reds history to do it and the first since Elly De La Cruz pulled it off back in June 2023. He's also the first Cincinnati player to cycle on the road since Heinie Groh did it in 1915 -- so yeah, this doesn't happen very often.
JJ Bleday launched one to the wall for an RBI triple to pad the Reds lead https://t.co/U69kkvtHnE
Bleday opened with a double in the first, followed it with that triple in the third, singled in the fourth, then finished the job with a home run to right off Arizona's Zack Littell in the sixth. He'd been quiet at the plate for most of August -- just 2 RBIs on the month coming in -- which made the breakout that much sweeter for a guy Cincinnati signed to a modest one-year, $1.4 million deal back in December.
Homer for the cycle!!! JJ BLEDAY! https://t.co/kzfK6ZQO4X
Bleday wasn't the only Red doing damage. Elly De La Cruz, the last guy to cycle for Cincinnati, went 4-for-6 himself and came a triple short of joining Bleday with one of his own -- something no team in MLB history has ever pulled off in the same game. Along the way he hit an absolute bomb that had the Barstool Baseball account losing it in real time.
Oh my god Elly….this ball was CRUSHED https://t.co/LcSoeCmgLq
As if two stars combining for a near double-cycle wasn't enough, rookie Hector Rodriguez chipped in his first career big league home run in the 7th, a 424-foot no-doubter that had the Reds bench going nuts for a guy who'd never gone deep in the majors before.
Héctor Rodríguez with his first career big fly! Not a cheapie, 424! https://t.co/WrpiNLHsbE
Cincinnati ended up running away with it, 11-5, snapping a two-game skid and evening the weekend series in Phoenix. Pitcher Rhett Lowder picked up his first win since August 5 to boot. For a Reds team looking for any spark down the stretch, a night like this -- a cycle, a near-cycle, and a rookie's first homer all in the same box score -- is about as good as it gets.