Postgame: Big night for Bruce
Lots of storylines surrounding Reds’ 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
*A huge night for Jay Bruce in his return after 12 games out with a sore right side. He was 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs.
*In his last five games, Bruce is 11-for-19 (.579) with seven homers and 12 RBIs. It could be big for the offense to have a red-hot Bruce slugging these last three weeks heading into the postseason
“It was a big day for Jay,” manager Dusty Baker said. “That was a big day for us. We needed that today.”
*Bronson Arroyo notched his 15th victory, tying a career high. Arroyo has 15 wins in three-straight seasons now. At 197 2/3 innings, he is closing in on 200 innings for the sixth-straight year. That’s amazing consistency. He pitched six innings without feeling sharp. After two homers in the second, he shut Arizona down.
*The Reds (82-62) got win No. 82 to guarantee their first winning season since 2000.
*With a St. Louis loss, the Reds’ NL Central lead is seven games again. The magic number is 13.
*The announced attendance of 12,061 fans was the lowest this season at GABP.
More quotes —
“It helped me be more relaxed. That’s the biggest thing about hitting. You need to be relaxed up there. I guess that’s how I’m supposed to feel all the time. Hopefully I can feel that, know what it’s like and repeat it.” — Jay Bruce on his hitting approach while returning from his injury.
“That was a gutsy performance by Bronson. He didn’t look like he had it at all early. All I saw were some 83s and 84s up there. We were wondering if the radar gun had slowed.” — Dusty Baker
“I just didn’t have stuff. I came out of the ‘pen knowing it was going to be a war. You feel sluggish sometimes and don’t have a lot of zip on anything. Fortunately, I had some command. If you don’t have one, you hope you have the other.” — Bronson Arroyo
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Mark Sheldon
