Jay Bruce honks massive dinger, Reds beat A's 2-1

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jay Bruce has been bustin' heads for the Cincinnati Reds all season long, and he provided the big blast today that helped them top the Oakland Athletics.  Bruce went 1 for 2, walked twice, and made sure that lone hit counted - it was his 14th dinger of the season, and provided all the offense on the day.  Heck, he even made a great running catch in RF late in the game, too.

Congrats on a resurgent 2016, Jay, and have yourself another trophy.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Dan Straily, who was nails yet again, allowing just a lone earned run on 5 hits in his 7.0 IP; Tucker Barnhart, who singled, doubled, and walked; Tony Cingrani, who tossed a perfect inning in relief; and Joey Votto, who singled, walked, and scored a run.

Key Plays

• Oakland jumped out to an early lead against Straily in the Top of the 1st, starting with a leadoff walk taken by Coco Crisp.  He motored to 3B on a Stephen Vogt double, and later scored on a singled to LF off the bat of Danny Valencia.  Reds trailed, 1-0.
• Bruce's moonball put the Reds on top in the Bottom of the 3rd, as his 7,345 foot dinger that nearly left the ballpark scored himself and Votto, who had walked to leadoff the inning.  Reds led, 2-1.
• Ross Ohlendorf flirted with disaster in the Top of the 9th, but eventually got the final out with a pair of runners on base.  Reds won, 2-1!

Tony Graphanino

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Considering the Reds entered the weekend series against Oakland sporting an 0-7 season record in interleague play, the last two days have been quite the respite.  Today's victory meant the Reds won an interleague series for the first time since the Truman* administration.
• Prior to last night's game, the Reds had played in only two games all season that featured a grand total of three runs or fewer.  They've now played in such games in back to back days.
• Bruce now owns a .911 OPS on the season.  That's freakin' fantastic work.
• John Lamb will take the mound for the Reds on Sunday in the series finale, where he'll be opposed by Kendall Graveman.  First pitch is set for 1:10 PM ET.
• Tunes.