Reds star Elly De La Cruz leaves win over Braves early with hamstring injury

Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz left their 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves early on Sunday with a hamstring injury.

De La Cruz hit a deep shot that reached the wall at the Great American Ball Park in the fifth inning of the contest on Sunday. But as he started approaching first base, he awkwardly pulled up and was noticeably in some pain. Instead of pushing it for a double, De La Cruz walked back slowly to first and was clearly shaken up.

The Reds quickly pulled him from the game there. They ruled him out the rest of the way with right hamstring tightness. Further specifics of the injury are not yet known. Matt McLain came in to replace De La Cruz the rest of the way.

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De La Cruz entered Sunday holding a .274 batting average with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs this season, his fourth in the league.

He had two hits on Sunday and scored twice, once in the first inning after JJ Bleday hit him in with a double. Bleday hit another double to bring De La Cruz in again in the third inning, too, which put the Reds up 2-1 at the time.

The Reds scored a run in each of the next four innings to push ahead to the two-run win. The Braves loaded up the bases in the ninth inning and threatened to take the lead back, but the Reds held on and Matt Olson grounded out to end the game.

That moved the Reds to 30-28 on the season and snapped a three-game losing skid, though they are still in last in the NL Central race. Cincinnati will open a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

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While it’s still early in the season and the Reds have time to rally to make the playoffs for a second straight season, that will undoubtedly be much more difficult if De La Cruz is sidelined for a significant amount of time.