CINCINNATI — Roughly four hours before first pitch, Allan Winans walked onto an empty field at Great American Ballpark and took out his phone to capture the scene.
The right-hander then walked to the mound to inspect his workplace for Monday night, his first big league action since last July.
If Winans was visualizing his start, it probably looked like how the first three innings actually played out.
And then Elly De La Cruz happened.
Yankees starter Allan Winans, second from right, walks back to the dugout during a pitching change in the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds, Monday, June 23, 2025.AP
And even more troubling for the Yankees, their lack of hitting with runners in scoring position happened, turning the game into a 6-1 loss at a sweltering Great American Ballpark.
The Yankees (45-33) had their chances to put up a crooked number to support Winans, but instead went 0-for-12 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position to drop the series opener.
“I thought tonight, our best at-bats were getting on base or putting the pressure on,” manager Aaron Boone said. “They had us swinging and missing tonight when we had really good opportunities to score. That’s where we want to be a little better.”
Over their past 12 games — in which they are 4-8 — the Yankees have combined to hit 17-for-102 (.167) with runners in scoring position after batting .264 (151-for-573) in 66 games before that.
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a solo home run in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
“I think it’s just going back to guys having intent, going up there with a plan and trying to execute,” said Aaron Judge, who provided the only offense with his 28th home run of the year in the first inning. “You’re not always going to drive the guy in or move him over, but as long as we’re continuing to have good at-bats and try to move guys over and knock them in, I like our chances. We had some opportunities, we just couldn’t capitalize. Got to switch that up [Tuesday].”
De La Cruz, meanwhile, finished the night a double short of the cycle and was responsible for four of the six Reds runs. He provided instant offense to spoil Winans’ night, combining power and speed to rope an RBI triple that tied the game in the fourth inning before he scored on a sacrifice fly to take the 2-1 lead.
In the fifth, after Winans had gotten knocked out of the game, the Reds superstar added an RBI single off Ian Hamilton to make it a 4-1 game. And then in the eighth, De La Cruz took Tim Hill deep to put the Reds (41-38) ahead 5-1.
Reds’ Elly De La Cruz hits an RBI single to score Jake Fraley during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Monday, June 23, 2025.AP
“He can do everything,” Judge said. “He can hit, he can throw, he’s got the wheels, he’s got the power we saw tonight. He’s fun to watch. A guy like that in the middle of your lineup, just electric. You don’t want to see him come up with guys on base or honestly any situation.”
The Yankees drove left-hander Nick Lodolo’s pitch count up early but could not take advantage. In the second inning, they had runners on the corners with one out and could not score. In the third, Cody Bellinger (3-for-4) led off with a double but was stranded at third. In the fifth, they had runners on first and second with one out but came up empty.
The most frustrating frame may have been the eighth, when the Yankees put runners on first and second with no outs before Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out and Anthony Volpe grounded out to end the threat.
Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. wipes his face during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds.AP
“Hopefully the worm turns a little bit on that and we do a better job,” Boone said. “I didn’t think our at-bats were the best in those spots tonight. But overall, the last four or five days, the at-bats have been getting better. But we got to finish off some innings here where we have opportunities.”
That was no help to Winans, who was charged with four earned runs — one fewer than he allowed in 50 innings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season — across 4 ¹/₃ innings. He cruised the first time through the order, flying through three innings on 24 pitches, before hitting Matt McLain with an errant sinker in the fourth. That brought De La Cruz to the plate to get his big night underway.
“I felt like I did show some good stuff,” Winans said. “I feel like there’s another gear I could hit probably. Couple missed-execution pitches, couple fastballs I’d like back. But for the most part, I tried to keep the team in the game as much as we can.”
