May Bruce! Reds 4, Mets 3.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Hard Jay is currently Hot Jay, and it's a thing of beauty. Jay Bruce homered again tonight in the midst of a 2 for 4, 2 RBI evening, and he's as locked in as we've come to expect him to be once the calendar flips to May. He's now sporting a .284/.327/.481 line on the season, and he's on pace for 58 doubles, 22 HR, 108 RBI, and his .808 OPS is right on his .811 career OPS. Whether or not this proves to be Bruce's "breakout year," he's once again the Jay Bruce we've come to know, and that's a middle of the order bat that can carry a team to the playoffs. Yay.

Honorable Mentions are due to Joey Votto (2 for 4 with a walk...yawn); Brandon Phillips (2 RBPI!), Johnny Cueto (he's back!); and Aroldis Chapman (a clean IP with 2 K for the save).

Key Plays

• The Reds raced out to a lead faster than a Shaun Marcum fastball...wait, that doesn't make any sense. They raced out to a lead faster than an Aroldis Chapman fastball...well, a 2012 Aroldis Chapman fastball...well, damnit, they took the lead in the Top of the 1st, OK? Shin-Soo Choo led off with a walk, and two batters later Votto hit a sharp grounder down the 1B line (that actually hit the base). Choo went to 3B, and Votto ran into Ike Davis before being thrown out at 2B; the Umps conferred, however, and awarded Votto 2B as a single and interference on Davis (an error on his behalf, and also the first time in the game where the Mets commenced complaining). Brandon Phillips, previously 0 for 12 against Marcum, then singled to score both Choo and Votto, and Jay Bruce followed with a laser double to score BP. Reds led, 3-0.
• Johnny Cueto was far from his vintage form tonight, and he missed spots more tonight than I've seen him do in years. The velocity was there, but missing the strike zone cost him in the Bottom of the 3rd. Rick Ankiel singled, David Wright walked, and after Lucas Duda struck out, Marlon Byrd hit a cheeseball to cheesy-poof land for a 3-run HR. Game tied, 3-3.
• To lead off the 6th, Jay Bruce hit one down by the bay where the watermelon grows. He hit it to the land where people see llamas eating pajamas. It was glorious. It was hit so hard, it sounded like th racquetball game in the background of this. Glorious, I tell you. Logan Ondrusek, Sean Marshall (Sean Marshall? Sean Marshall!), Jonathan Broxton, and Aroldis Chapman but the beat down on the lock down, and that was that. Reds win, 4-3!

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-05-20&team=Mets&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-05-20&team=Mets&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• Man, Jay Bruce's racquetball game has me on an old Outkast binge now. Roll with me.
  
• Seriously, do.
• It was announced before the game tonight by MLB that Joey Votto had won the Joey Votto NL Joey Votto of the Month award since even MLB couldn't even think of some excuse of a human being that they could pretend had out Joey Vottoed Joey Votto over the last week. Expect him to win another one every other week of his existence because, well, Joey Votto. Keep Calm and Joey Votto.
• This album came out 17 years ago? Man, I really am growing old.