Frazier, Bruce power Reds to victory
Third baseman's two-run shot was fifth homer this week
CINCINNATI -- Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier each provided a power boost to help lead the Reds to victory over the Marlins on Sunday, 5-2, and win the three-game series.
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Both hit a two-run homer on Sunday, with Frazier giving the Reds an early lead and Bruce providing the winning runs in the sixth inning.
Frazier went deep to right field for a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Reds an early 2-1 lead. The home run tracked at 376 feet from home plate by Statcast™ and came on a 90-mph pitch from Marlins starter David Phelps. The home run was Frazier's fifth of the week to continue a hot stretch across June.
Reds manager Bryan Price said Frazier is on potentially his best stretch of his career, and is exciting to watch every time he comes up to the plate.
"It's been fun to watch, and you always anticipate something good happening," Price said. "It doesn't just have to be a home run. It can be a hard base hit to start the inning or a gapper, just a lot of hard contact. I know we celebrate the home runs, but I just like the fact that he's giving us good at-bats, he's not expanding the zone early and does a nice job when he gets a good pitch to hit."
Frazier is now hitting .292/.356/.636 with 23 home runs and 48 RBIs on the season. His 23 home runs rank third in the Majors.
Video: MIA@CIN: Bruce blasts a two-run homer to put Reds up
Bruce's home run played an even bigger role in Sunday's rubber match. Bruce also sent a 1-1 pitch from Phelps to the right-field seats, giving the Reds a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning. The home run was Bruce's 11th of the season and proved to be the game-winning hit for the Reds.
Bruce said he wasn't expecting the changeup, but was happy he got ahold of it to put the Reds into the lead.
"After those first two innings [Reds starter] Michael [Lorenzen] really settled down and started pitching great," Bruce said. "It was good to have some separation there and finish that series off."