Pride pushes Reds to 75th win of the season

Cincinnati Reds' Jay Bruce hits a three-run home run off St. Louis Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro in the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 12:10 AM Wednesday, September 30, 2009

CINCINNATI — To the Cincinnati Reds these days, it doesn’t matter if it’s the St. Louis Cardinals or the St. Louis Browns, because the Reds are plugged into a winning mode.

With nothing left for which to play but pride, the Reds are bursting with it as they enter the last week of the season.

The division-champion Cardinals played their No. 1 lineup Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Great American Ball Park and couldn’t prevent the Reds from winning for the 24th time in their last 35 games, 7-2.

And this one was significant to manager Dusty Baker. It was the team’s 75th win, one more than his team won all of last season.

He takes his progress in small steps. But 75 wins certainly doesn’t merit champagne, does it? Near beer, maybe?

It was Jay Bruce’s night — two home runs and a career-best five RBIs, giving him 22 home runs in 330 at-bats.

The beneficiary was starting pitcher Homer Bailey, who breezed to his seventh victory, holding the Cardinals to one run and seven hits over seven innings while striking out seven and walking one.

There was a defining moment for Bailey in this game and it came in the fifth inning with the Reds leading, 4-0. The Cardinals had the bases loaded with one out and Albert Pujols was the batter, owner of five grand slams in 15 bases-loaded at bats.

Conventional wisdom? Walk Pujols and pitch to Matt Holliday.

But they pitched to him and he nearly did it again, driving one to the center field warning track that Willy Taveras caught, a sacrifice fly for one run instead of a home run for four.

“I knew he got under it a little bit, but it was still kinda scary in this ballpark,” said Bailey. “How do I approach it? Take a step back, slow the game down, walk around a bit, then look at the glove and throw it as hard as you can.”