MINNEAPOLIS — Elly De La Cruz hit his first big league grand slam in a six-run seventh inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat Minnesota Twins 8-4 on Friday night.
Minnesota (78-69) lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Its lead over Detroit for the final AL wild card was cut to 2 1/2 games.
''You give up all those runs on one swing, that's going to be hard,'' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ''We have a couple weeks left and we need to play solid baseball. ''
TJ Friedl drove in the Reds' first two runs with a second-inning home run and a squeeze bunt single in the seventh off Bailey Ober (12-7) that put Cincinnati ahead 2-1. Ty France hit an RBI double and De La Cruz followed with his 24th home run, his second since Aug. 21.
De La Cruz stood at the plate and held his bat high, watching the drive off Jorge Alcala soar into the right-field second deck.
''I feel so good. It means a lot,'' De La Cruz said. ''It's the first of many.''
The All-Star shortstop has played in an NL-leading 147 games this season, and manager David Bell doesn't expect to give him a break down the stretch.
''He's playing with good energy. He's playing hard. He's taking care of himself," Bell said. "I know he's played a lot of innings, a lot of games, All-Star Game. We're watching everybody close. If somebody really needs one, we'll give him a day off, for sure. He's proving just having him on the field helps us win games.''
