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CINCINNATI — OK, so Jay Bruce isn't Mr. Perfect. He is subject to lapses such as the fly ball he misjudged in the eighth inning that banged the right-field wall for a double.

Hey, it only shows that he is human, that there is a human heart and red blood pumping in that young body instead of a computer and nitroglycerin.

Even after witnessing that minor gaffe, the Atlanta Braves aren't certain that Bruce isn't a bionic man pieced together in the Castellini & Sons laboratory.

Bruce hit another home run and another single, and drove in two runs and scored two runs as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Braves 6-2 on Sunday, June 1, completing a three-game sweep and a 5-1 homestand.

And there was a Mr. Perfect. Almost. Johnny Cueto flirted with perfection by retiring the first 14 before issuing a walk with two outs in the fifth inning.

He still had his no-hitter until the sixth inning when Gregor Blanco bunted — torching a near incident. Shortstop Jerry Hairston Jr. took umbrage and said something to Blanco about bunting for the first hit.

When Hairston came to bat, Braves catcher Brian McCann said to Hairston, "We're just trying to win a game," and it went from there, although no voices were raised.

"It was just a discussion about how the game should be played," said Hairston.

Cueto took a shutout into the seventh inning before giving up back-to-back home runs to Mark Teixeira and McCann, but the Reds put it away with three in the seventh, including a run-scoring single by Bruce after a suicide-squeeze bunt by Hairston right after his chat with McCann.

Before the game, because of his bullpen's heavy usage and the fact the Reds are in a 20-game stretch with no off days, manager Dusty Baker hoped Cueto could pitch a complete-game shutout.

"He was sharp from the very beginning," said Baker. "He might have gone to the well a little too often by going inside on those big hitters in this ballpark. But that's how he was getting them out. He was throwing quality strikes."

While Cueto had only three strikeouts, he walked only one, "And that's even better," said Baker.

About Bruce, Baker said, "A very good week. Jay has given us what we need — some offense, given us very good baserunning and both us and the fans a lot of energy."

Bruce was 13-for-22 (.591) with three doubles, two homers, six RBIs and a humble-pie attitude as he packed for the eight-game trip to Philadelphia and Florida.

Asked about the "bruuuuuuuuce" cheers in Cincinnati, Bruce showed he knows Philadelphia by saying, "They'll boo me there. I know they have tough fans there.

"I'm looking forward to my first road trip and excited, because we are going on the trip on a roll," he added. Asked if No. 1 home run (the walk-off Saturday) was better than Sunday's No. 2, he said, "Naw, but it was still nice. It's all pretty crazy."

The Braves have another word for it.

And they have another word for Cueto, too, after seeing him for the first time. His record is now up to 4-5, and his ERA down to 5.11.

"He's obviously very good," said Reds catcher Paul Bako. "He was pounding guys inside with his fastballs, and that's the key for him — command of his fastball. That makes all his other stuff a whole lot better.

"That's what he is capable of doing and he has done it before — dominate a good lineup, and that's what he can do when he's on," Bako added.

Cueto did it in his major-league debut, poking out Arizona's lights on one hit and 10 strikeouts over seven innings, but hadn't come close to that debut until Sunday.

As is Cueto, the Reds are one game under .500 (28-29) as they begin the eight-game trip.

"We certainly need some wins on this trip after climbing back to within one of .500," said Baker. "We need to stay hot on this trip. It has to turn for us on this road trip (9-19 record)."

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