Dominican De la Cruz's grand slam propels Cincinnati into the majors

(AFP) Dominican star slugger Elly de la Cruz connected on a four-run home run Saturday to propel the Cincinnati Reds to a 5x2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

De la Cruz, considered a potential candidate for the National League Most Valuable Player award, sent a 118-yarder with the bases loaded in the third inning.

His compatriot Santiago Espinal and Americans TJ Friedl and Blake Dunn also crossed the plate to give the Reds an early 4–0 lead in front of their home crowd.

Another Dominican ballplayer, Alexander Canario, closed the gap for the Pirates with a home run in the fifth inning.

The Reds catch a bit of a breather with this win at Great American Ball Park, moving into third place in the Central division of the 'Old Circuit', with seven wins and eight losses.

In another game, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5x4 on a special afternoon for Venezuelan Anthony Santander.

The slugger from Margarita, signed this season by the Blue Jays, had gone 14 games without hitting a home run in his new uniform—but his first finally came on Saturday, fittingly at Camden Yards, the ballpark where he spent eight seasons with the Orioles.

The 22,000 fans at the ballpark, where Santander amassed a total of 81 homers with the Orioles, gave their former star a standing ovation during a pregame video tribute.

The Venezuelan's homer gave the visitors a temporary 3x0 lead in the fifth inning.

The Orioles later rallied thanks to home runs by Heston Kjerstad and Adley Rutschman.

With the loss, the Blue Jays (8-7) were unseated by the New York Yankees (8-6)from the lead in the American League East division.

The Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 8x4 led this time by Dominican Jasson Dominguez and Americans Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, who drove in two runs each.

Venezuelan Wilmer Flores shined for the Giants by driving in all four runs, the first two with a home run in the second inning and the rest with a single in the sixth.

Flores, 33, moved into the group of the top six bombers this early season in the majors, all of them with six homers.