CINCINNATI (AP) — Elly De La Cruz had a single, double and two home runs for a career-high seven RBIs, Brady Singer pitched seven scoreless innings in his Cincinnati debut, and the Reds routed the Texas Rangers 14-3 on Monday night.

Singer, who was acquired in November from the Kansas City Royals, became the first Reds pitcher with seven-plus scoreless innings in a debut since Tom Seaver on June 18, 1977, against Montreal. The 28-year-old right-hander struck out eight, walked two and allowed one hit.

De La Cruz hit a three-run home run to center for a 6-0 lead in the second inning. It was his first homer of the season. He added a two-run shot in the seventh.

The Reds (2-2) batted around in the sixth to double their lead to 12-0. The 14 runs were Cincinnati’s most since a 19-2 victory over St. Louis on Sept. 29, 2023.

Rookie Kumar Rocke allowed six earned runs in three innings for Texas (3-2). Jake Burger hit his first home run for the Rangers in the ninth.

Cincinnati first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand was hit by a pitch on the wrist in the sixth. He stayed in the dugout for the seventh.

Key moment

Matt McLain, who missed the 2024 season with a shoulder injury, hit his third home run of the season to give Cincinnati a 2-0 lead in the first. Gavin Lux added an RBI double for the Reds’ fourth straight hit to start the game and a 3-0 lead.

Key stat

Cincinnati entered as one of two teams without a steal attempt this season before De La Cruz’s broke the streak in the first inning.

Up next

The series resumes Tuesday when the Reds send right-hander Carson Spiers against RHP Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 3.00 ERA), who is coming off his second opening-day start in a row for Texas.

Reds 14, Rangers 3

Texas						Cincinnati
	ab	r	h	bi			ab	r	h	bi
Semien 2b	3	0	0	0		Friedl cf	4	2	2	0
Seager ss	2	0	0	0		Hurtubise lf	0	0	0	0
Ornelas ss	0	0	0	0		McLain 2b	3	4	2	3
Langford lf	4	0	0	0		De La Cruz ss	5	4	4	7
Pederson dh	3	0	0	0		Lux lf	3	0	1	1
Duran p	1	0	0	0		Dunn lf-cf	1	0	0	0
García rf	2	0	1	0		Candelario 3b-1b	5	0	1	0
Pillar ph-rf	2	1	1	0		Encrncn-Strnd 1b	2	1	0	0
Burger 1b	4	1	1	2		Espinal 3b	1	0	0	0
Smith 3b	3	1	0	0		Steer dh	5	0	1	2
Heim c	4	0	2	0		Fraley rf	5	1	1	1
Taveras cf	4	0	0	1		Trevino c	4	2	2	0
Totals	32	3	5	3		Totals	38	14	14	14

Texas	000	000	012	=	3
Cincinnati	330	006	20x	=	14

E–Heim (1), Semien (1). DP–Texas 1, Cincinnati 0. LOB–Texas 6, Cincinnati 6. 2B–García (3), Pillar (1), Lux (1), De La Cruz (1). HR–Burger (1), McLain (3), De La Cruz 2 (2). SB–Friedl (1).

	IP		H	R	ER	BB	SO

Texas
Rocker L,0-1	3		7	6	6	2	3
Church	1	1-3	0	0	0	2	2
Garabito	2	2-3	7	8	4	0	3
Duran	1		0	0	0	0	0

Cincinnati
Singer W,1-0	7		1	0	0	2	8
Moll	1		1	1	1	2	0
Suter	1		3	2	2	0	1

HBP–Garabito 2 (Encarnacion-Strand,McLain). WP–Rocker, Moll(2).

Umpires–Home, Vic Carapazza; First, Mark Ripperger; Second, Nic Lentz; Third, Nick Mahrley.

T–2:25. A–10,533 (43,891).