Last Game
It seemed like it took forever, but the Cincinnati Reds finally clinched first place in the National League Central last night, winning in, what else, walk-off fashion. Jay Bruce was the hero, hitting the first pitch he saw in the 9th inning out of the park to straight-away center field to give the Reds the 3-2 win over the Houston Astros and the Reds their first division title since 1995. And then there was a lot of partying in and around Cincinnati.

Next Game
Now that the Reds have clinched, they’re back to playing meaningless games at the end of September, right? No? Ok. Well, the Reds still have 5 more games to play before the season’s over, and they’ll be trying to secure home-field advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs. Johnny Cueto starts tonight against Nelson Figueroa at 7:10pm EDT.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Jay Bruce’s walk-off, first-place clinching home run last night was only the 5th such shot in all of Major League Baseball history. The four others were Bobby Thomson for the 1951 Giants, Hank Aaron for the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, Alfonso Soriano for the 1999 Yankees, and Steven Finley for the 2004 Dodgers.