Elly gives fans what they came for: grand slam on bobblehead night..

CINCINNATI – It was his own bobblehead night on Saturday, so Elly De La Cruz already had a captive audience at Great American Ball Park as the Reds played the Pirates. The All-Star shortstop made the game even better for fans by slugging a grand slam as Cincinnati went on to a 5-2 victory.

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The win, the Reds’ fourth in their last five games, guaranteed a winning three-game series over Pittsburgh with a chance to sweep on Sunday.

Jorge Polanco's second home run of the game (9) | 07/27/2024 | Seattle Mariners

Pirates lefty Andrew Heaney was perfect through 2 1/3 innings before Santiago Espinal hit a double in the Reds’ third. With two outs, Heaney hit back-to-back batters with pitches in TJ Friedl and Blake Dunn.

Batting right-handed, the switch-hitting De La Cruz followed and worked a full count after being down 1-2. Heaney offered a high fastball and De La Cruz lifted it high in the air – at a 40-degree launch angle – while the crowd roared to life.

The ball kept carrying into the left field seats for the grand slam – the second of De La Cruz’s career – and a 4-0 Reds lead.

It was a much needed homer for the slumping De La Cruz, whose two other long balls this season came on March 31 vs. the Rangers on a four-hit night. In his other 13 games entering the season, he was batting .180 with only five RBIs.

Jorge Polanco's second home run of the game (9) | 07/27/2024 | Seattle Mariners

The Reds’ giveaway was unique in that there were two different bobbleheads distributed – featuring De La Cruz batting from each side of the plate. Fans had to open the box to learn which one they received.

Andrew Abbott strikes out five
Apr 13, 2025 · 1:06
Andrew Abbott strikes out five
In his season debut after being activated from the injured list, Reds lefty Andrew Abbott pitched five innings and allowed one earned run and two hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Mariners Outright Jesse Hahn..

Jorge Polanco's second home run of the game (9) | 07/27/2024 | Seattle Mariners

The Mariners announced that right-hander Jesse Hahn has been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. Hahn cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Since Hahn has more than three years’ worth of MLB service time, he has the right to reject that outright assignment in favor of free agency, but there isn’t yet any word on whether or not Hahn will test the market or stick in Seattle’s organization.

Hahn already quickly re-signed with the Mariners on a fresh minor league deal after they released him from a previous minors contract at the end of March, which might hint that Hahn will again stick around in Triple-A. Hahn’s return to the M’s ended up landing the righty his first taste of Major League action since 2021, after the Mariners selected his contract and deployed him in two games last week. Hahn threw four scoreless frames in those two appearances, albeit with three hits and four walks in that limited sample.

Jorge Polanco's second home run of the game (9) | 07/27/2024 | Seattle Mariners

The 35-year-old Hahn has a 4.17 ERA over 315 1/3 career innings with the Padres, A’s, Royals, and Mariners. Health issues have cost him big chunks of his career, as Hahn has undergone two Tommy John surgeries, and he also didn’t pitch at all in 2022-23 while recovering from a shoulder issue. He returned to action to post a 4.29 ERA across 50 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level for the Dodgers and Mariners, as control issues continued to limit Hahn’s effectiveness.