Trolled on the Brewers' scoreboard, this Reds phenom proceeded to hit one out of the stadium
The Milwaukee Brewers' scoreboard operator invited trouble Monday night.
"Almost hit a home run in the first inning ... but didn't," read the video board in center field at American Family Field as Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz came to bat in the third inning.
It was a clever joke. In his first at-bat, De La Cruz launched a fly ball to deep center field that had the distance for a homer but Brewers center fielder Joey Wiemer robbed him with a leaping grab that kept it from clearing the fence.
This time, though, De La Cruz did hit a homer. He left no doubt about it, either.
On the first pitch he saw, the Reds rookie phenom launched a 113.7 mph rocket off a cutter from Brewers right-hander Colin Rea so deep it left the ballpark on the fly and landed about 30 feet beyond the stadium's glass panels in right-center field. Statcast measured the blast at 456 feet, though it may have gone farther.
A wild chase ensued by fans who exited the stadium in the right-field corner and sprinted to find the mammoth blast. The race was won by Brandon Stephens of Milwaukee, whose friend had told him on Twitter on Sunday he would catch a De La Cruz homer this week.
Stephens had to buy another ticket to re-enter the stadium.
It was not the first time a homer has outright left the stadium, with former Brewers sluggers Prince Fielder and Russell Branyan among those to have done it, but it was almost certainly the first time a homer outright cleared the stadium after being trolled by the scoreboard.
In the end, the Brewers got the last laugh, winning 3-2 on Christian Yelich's walk-off single in the ninth inning. De La Cruz's homer was the only offense the Reds produced all night, and the Brewers are now 9-2 this year against Cincinnati and 1 1/2 games up in the division.
THANK YOU: Subscribers' support makes this work possible. Help us share the knowledge by buying a gift subscription.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Elly De La Cruz hits home run out of stadium after Brewers troll him
