Elly De La Cruz recorded his sixth career multi-homer game and drove in five runs, fueling the Cincinnati Reds to a 12-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

De La Cruz launched a two-run blast in the first inning and a solo shot in the ninth to boost his homer total to eight on the season and sixth while batting right-handed. He had five homers in 199 at-bats while hitting right-handed in 2025.

De La Cruz also had a fielder’s choice as part of a four-run sixth inning and an RBI single in the seventh.

Cincinnati’s Ke’Bryan Hayes and Dane Myers launched back-to-back homers in the second inning and Spencer Steer added a solo shot in the fifth.

Rookie Sal Stewart had a two-run single and a sacrifice fly for the Reds, who improved to 10-2 away from home after winning five in a row to start a six-game road trip.

Chase Burns (2-1) allowed two runs on four hits and struck out eight batters in 5 2/3 innings. His lone blemish was Jonathan Aranda’s two-run homer in the sixth inning.

Aranda and Ben Williamson each added a bases-loaded walk and Jonny DeLuca had a two-run double in the ninth inning for Tampa Bay, which has been outscored 24-10 during its three-game losing streak.

Myers worked a leadoff walk in the first inning and De La Cruz deposited a 2-0 sinker from Steven Matz (3-1) over the wall in right-center field to give the Reds a quick 2-0 lead.

Cincinnati doubled its advantage as Hayes and Myers each went deep with two outs in the second inning.

Steer continued the power display in the fifth inning by sending a 1-1 fastball from Griffin Jax over the wall in left-center field.

Matz struggled to find the zone, tossing just 44 of his 77 pitches for strikes before exiting after three innings. He permitted four runs on as many hits with four walks.

The Reds put the game out of reach in the sixth inning.

Matt McLain ripped an RBI double and Myers scored after he used a swim move to deftly elude the tag of catcher Hunter Feduccia on De La Cruz’s fielder’s choice. McLain and De La Cruz promptly stole a base before coming home on Stewart’s two-run single to extend Cincinnati’s lead to 9-0.

–Field Level Media

VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey combined to make 11 3-pointers and score 59 total points as the Philadelphia 76ers bounced back to even their Eastern Conference playoff series with the host Boston Celtics in a 111-97 decision on Tuesday.

Seventh-seeded Philadelphia (1-1) shook off a dismal Game 1 performance, which included making just four 3-pointers in Sunday’s 123-91 loss, with a complete reversal on the offensive end.

The Sixers shot a torrid 19-of-39 from beyond the arc in Game 2, with Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Paul George each adding a pair of made triples to supplement Edgecombe and Maxey.

Edgecombe and Maxey were the catalysts, however. The rookie Edgecombe finished 12-of-20 from the floor, including his 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

“This is who we are. Game 1 isn’t who we are,” Edgecombe said in his postgame interview with Peacock. “We let our offense dictate our defense (on Sunday), and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Philadelphia’s flipping of the script on the offensive end on Tuesday did indeed carry over defensively. The Sixers limited the Celtics (1-1) to 35-of-89 shooting from the floor, locking down each scoring option beyond the primary two of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

Brown went for a game-high 36 points, and Tatum finished with 19 points to go with his game-high 14 rebounds. No other Celtic reached double-figures scoring, however, a stark contrast from Game 1 when the entire Boston starting five notched at least 10 points.

And while Brown shot 5-of-12 from long distance, Boston’s other shooters combined to go just 8-for-38.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, got 19 points from George and 12 from Oubre. After foul trouble limited him in Game 1, Andre Drummond came off the bench to provide the Sixers quality minutes on the interior with 10 points and eight rebounds.

–Field Level Media

Luis Garcia Jr. had four hits and drove in three runs, Curtis Mead socked a three-run homer and the host Washington Nationals ended the Atlanta Braves’ six-game winning streak with an 11-4 win on Tuesday.

James Wood hit his eighth homer of the season, walked four times and scored three runs for Washington, which leveled the four-game series at one victory apiece.

Nationals starter Foster Griffin (3-0) allowed three runs on five hits over six solid innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Drake Baldwin and Eli White homered for the Braves, and Mauricio Dubon had two hits.

Atlanta starter Reynaldo Lopez (1-1) allowed four runs in one-plus inning and gave up five hits and three walks while fanning one. Braves pitchers issued 12 walks.

Ronald Acuna Jr. was in the Atlanta lineup and went 1-for-5 one day after being hit by pitch twice, including once on the left hand.

The first six Nationals reached base in a three-run first. Wood walked and Garcia singled him to third, then stole second. Jacob Young lined a single to center, scoring Wood. CJ Abrams and Daylen Lile walked, with Lile getting an RBI. Nasim Nunez singled to score Young with the third run.

Back-to-back two-out doubles by Dubon and Michael Harris II got the Braves within 3-1 in the second.

Wood homered leading off the bottom half, and Lopez was done for the night after Garcia singled.

Baldwin’s solo homer in the third pulled the Braves within 4-2.

White homered in the fifth to make it 4-3, but the Nationals answered in the bottom half when Brady House singled, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Garcia to make it 5-3.

In the seventh, the Nationals loaded the bases with two walks and a single. Garcia followed with a two-run double, and another runner came home on a groundout by Young.

Austin Riley’s RBI groundout pulled the Braves within 8-4 in the eighth, but a pair of walks and Mead’s three-run homer put things out of reach in the bottom half.

The Braves placed closer Raisel Iglesias on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, and they promoted Dylan Dodd from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill the roster spot.

–Field Level Media