There was little respite for the Cincinnati Reds in their exhaustive pursuit of excellence on Monday night in Great American Ball Park.
The best of their best, the cream of their crop all rose to the occasion for the complete obliteration of the Texas Rangers. The offense rolled. The pitching, spearheaded by Big Offseason Acquisition™ Brady Singer, was mostly spotless. The big hits were bigger, the stars aligned and shined, and the end result was a thorough 14-3 thumping of the 2023 World Series champions in the series opener.
Elly De La Cruz, the de facto Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Roster of the Reds these days, filled the stat sheet in a way only he could.