De La Cruz's first big league grand slam keys Reds to 8-4 win over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — 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.”

Julian Aguiar (2-0), in the longest of his six major league starts, held the Twins to three hit over 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts.

“I just went out there, just grooved along. All my pitches were working with me. It kind of went by quick,” said Aguiar, who hadn't thrown a pitch in the seventh inning before Friday. “I didn’t realize (until) I got out the mound in the seventh inning and they started singing for the seventh-inning stretch. I was like, ‘Oh. OK.’”

Friedl had three hits and drove in three runs. His home run off was off the end of his bat and landed in the flower boxes just beyond the 23-foot right-field wall.

“I was hoping it would say fair, if anything,” Friedl said. “Normally when you hit it out front like that is going to hook towards the line more, so I was watching it and saw it wasn’t hooking. That’s when I started running, and I guess it just barely cleared.”

Byron Buxton homered for the Twins in his first game since Aug. 12 after recovering from a hip injury.

“Nice to see him get back in action and whack one,” Baldelli said. “Already, he comes in and impacts us in a really nice way.”

Ober gave up five runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He completed at least six innings for the 14th time in his last 15 starts.

UP NEXT

Minnesota RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 3.96) starts Saturday against Cincinnati RHP Nick Martinez (8-6, 3.46).

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Julian Aguiar delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl catches the ball for an out against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Julian Aguiar fields the ball during the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Julian Aguiar delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds' TJ Friedl runs on his a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds Elly De La Cruz (44) bats during the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds Elly De La Cruz (44) celebrates with Cincinnati Reds third base coach J.R. House (56) after hitting a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds Elly De La Cruz (44) celebrates with Cincinnati Reds teammate Ty France (2) after hitting a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds Elly De La Cruz runs home after hitting a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

Cincinnati Reds Elly De La Cruz (44) celebrates with teammates after hitting a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shaken by multiple recent militant attacks, Pakistani authorities have locked down the capital in a major security move before senior officials from several nations arrive for an Asian security group meeting.

A three-day holiday started Monday in normally bustling Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, and Pakistan has deployed troops and blocked key roads, making it difficult even for ambulances to take patients to hospitals. Some doctors on blocked roads asked police to remove barricades so that they could go to hospitals, but police instead asked them and others to take longer routes.

The main event of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held Wednesday when leaders and officials from the member states gather to discuss how to boost their security cooperation and economic ties.

In years past, ordinary Pakistanis used to line up on both sides of the main roads to welcome any dignitaries visiting the country, but authorities say they had to take harsh security measures because of the fears of militant attacks.

Officials say their priority is to peacefully hold the meeting of the Asian security grouping that was established in 2001 by China and Russia to discuss security concerns in Central Asia and the wider region. Other members of the SCO are Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Militants in recent weeks killed dozens of people in multiple attacks in restive northwest and southwestern bordering Afghanistan. But, security experts say militants have limited capacity to strike in Islamabad.

However, two Chinese engineers were also killed on Oct. 6 in a suicide bombing outside the country’s largest airport in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. The attack was claimed by a separatist group.

The slain engineers were working on a power project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC, which includes building and improving roads and rail systems to link western China’s Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s southwestern Gwadar port on the Arabian sea.

Despite the killing of two Chinese, China's Premier Li Qiang arrived in the capital on Monday to attend the SCO meeting. Li on Monday virtually inaugurated a Beijing-funded airport built in restive southwestern Balochistan where separatists have warned China to wind up CPEC-related projects to avoid any further attacks on the Chinese engineers working in Pakistan.

However, Pakistan’s military has responded to the threat from the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army by launching multiple raids on their hideouts, and vowed to eliminate them in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country.

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, second left, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, right, greets Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

An army vehicle moves past a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed along a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang reviews the guard of honor during a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, third left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, third right, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang, left, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attend a attends a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)