Elly De La Cruz homered and drove in four runs and Chase Burns reached 100 strikeouts faster than any other Cincinnati pitcher, leading the Reds to a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
De La Cruz added a pair of RBI singles and the Reds took a 4-1 lead in the third inning. De La Cruz hit his team-high 10th home run in the eighth after a Dane Myers hit for a 6-2 lead. He finished the night 3-for-4 with two steals.
Burns (3-1) walked Edouard Julien to lead off the game and then struck out all three batters. He struck out TJ Rumfield pitching for the third out and his 100th strikeout in 72 2/3 innings.
Burns matched his season high with nine strikeouts, allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk in six innings. He threw 97 pitches and came out after striking out Kyle Karros with one out and runners on second and third, and retiring Venezuelan Ezequiel Tovar with a fly ball.
Relievers Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan and Brock Burke were responsible for securing the victory for Cincinnati.
Kyle Freeland (1-2) returned from the disabled list and walked Myers to start his first start since April 7. Myers scored on De La Cruz’s single before Steer homered for a 3-0 lead. The Reds are 13-1 when scoring first.
