Jay Bruce Will Never Record An Out in his Major League Career, Reds 9-6

The offense looked pretty sharp from the fourth inning on. Cueto struggled but slimed out of trouble enough times to qualify for the victory. And Jeremy Affeldt was nice enough to give up three runs in the 9th so that Cordero could pick up a garbage save. That Affeldt's a hell of a nice guy.

But the big news of the night was Bruce at the plate. He drew two walks and went 3 for 3 when the Pirates allowed him to swing the bat. He did not look overmatched against a starter, Ian Snell, who isn't terrible i.e. Pat Maholm. He even stole a base so that Dusty would get off his back. Speed is the most important aspect of offensive baseball. Grande Burro, who hit a bomb to give the Reds the lead and even took a pitch on the outer half of the plate to left for an RBI, held a post game press conference to announce that Bruce's nickname will be the Little and/or Medium-Sized Donkey (if Little is chosen it could possibly be abbreviated to Lil'). That's a nickname you can set your watch to.

Tomorrow Arroyo and morale is high. We have to hope that Bruce cools off so that Patterson can get back in the lineup. That's the long term plan for a successful ballclub. Reds! Reds! Reds!