Elly De La Cruz came to bat in the top of the third inning with two outs and two runners on Friday evening with the Cincinnati Reds trailing the Baltimore Orioles 1-0. De La Cruz swung at the first pitch he saw from Orioles pitcher Cade Povich, a 79 MPH curveball, and crushed it.
De La Cruz hit the ball to centerfield where it hit the top of the wall and bounced unusually high in the air. De La Cruz stopped at second thinking it hadn't gone out, but his teammates insisted it should have been a home run. Eventually De La Cruz joined in the chorus of finger-twirling and umpires went to replay.
Elly De La Cruz goes to straightaway center for a 3-run shot 💪 pic.twitter.com/4yBApbAyh6
— MLB (@MLB) April 18, 2025
After a lengthy review, the crew decided that the ball hit the right part of the wall for it to be considered a home run and De La Cruz was allowed to finish his trot to home plate. It was De La Cruz's fourth home run of the seaosn.
And all he had to do was wave his finger.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Elly De La Cruz Turned a Double Into a Home Run With the Wave of a Finger.
