Mammoth Blog

At the plate, Reds right-hander Micah Owings is among the club's best pinch-hitters.

On Sunday afternoon, Owings the pitcher was impressive in executing his primary responsibility.

Owings allowed just one earned run on six hits over seven innings, and Jay Bruce homered twice to help lift the Reds to an 8-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the finale of a three-game series before 29,327 fans at Great American Ball Park.

With the victory, the Reds avoided the sweep after dropping the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-5.

"This victory was much needed for our team's morale," said Reds manager Dusty Baker. "It's like springtime -- cold one day, hot the next day. When you have a young team, you have a tendency to be inconsistent."

Owings (1-2) walked three and struck out six in earning his first victory in a Reds uniform.

"I was kidding with [Aaron] Harang, asking him what it felt like to win here," Owings said. "[I] can't say enough about our offense today. It makes a pitcher's day so much easier. It was a great crowd out there. I had fun."

Owings contributed to Cincinnati's eight-run, 11-hit outburst on Sunday by going 2-for-3 with a double. He's the second Reds pitcher this season to collect two hits in a game, along with Johnny Cueto, who singled twice on April 22 at Chicago.

"Micah was everything today," said Baker. "I'm glad to get him on the board with a win."

Entering Sunday's game, Owings led Reds pinch-hitters with two RBIs and was tied with Darnell McDonald and Laynce Nix for the team-lead with two pinch-hits, both doubles.

But the offensive star on Sunday afternoon was Bruce, who went 3-for-3 with two homers and four RBIs.

Since returning to the lineup after missing three starts with a bruised right hand, Bruce has hit safely in all six of his starts, batting a blistering .455 in that stretch.

"I've tried to take quality at-bats, that's the big thing," Bruce said. "I got myself out a whole lot last year. This has been a learning experience for me, but today felt really good, especially to help the team win."

In the fourth, Bruce connected on a 1-0 pitch from Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami, hooking it just inside the left-field foul pole for his fourth home run of the season.

Bruce's blast came with Joey Votto, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs, aboard to put the Reds ahead, 2-0.

Votto was 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs.

The Reds put the game away in the fifth when they batted around and scored six runs.

Willy Taveras beat out an infield hit to load the bases.

Votto then laced a double to the wall in right, clearing the bases to make the score, 5-0.

Brandon Phillips made it 6-0 with a long single that caromed off the right-field wall, driving home Votto.

Bruce followed with his second two-run homer; it sailed 414 feet into the Sun Deck, giving the Reds an 8-0 lead. It was the third two-homer game of Bruce's career. He last did it on July 2, 2008, vs. Pittsburgh.

Bruce's homer ended the afternoon for Kawakami, who allowed eight earned runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings to fall to 1-3.

The six-run rally was made possible by a fortunate bounce.

Ramon Hernandez was called out when Owings' single struck his foot en route to center field. It was the first out of the inning, but had the ball not hit Hernandez, it likely would've resulted in a double play.

"We needed a break," said Baker.

Owings allowed his only run when Braves catcher David Ross, a former Red, hit a solo homer in the seventh.

"[I] can't say enough about our pitching performance today," said Bruce. "This was a great win for our team."

After Owings ran out of gas in the seventh, Jared Burton and Daniel Ray Herrera combined to allow just one run on four hits in two innings of relief.

"I wish I could've gone deeper, but I'm not going to get greedy," said Owings. "I knew what I needed to do today for our team. I've worked on some things that have helped. I'm going to enjoy this one." source>>>