Bruce blasts two homers in Dragon victory
By Marc Katz, Staff Writer
DAYTON — As points of reference, Austin Kearns hit one home run in rookie ball and 13 in his first season at "low" Class A.
Adam Dunn hit four as a rookie, 11 in his first season at "low" A.
Both — especially Dunn — are now hitting plenty of homers for the Reds, as Cincinnati expects Jay Bruce to do some day.
Bruce, just 19, is off to a good start. Monday night, the Reds' No. 1 draft pick last summer, hit two at Fifth Third Field, each with a man on, as the Class A Midwest League Dayton Dragons beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 10-4 to win for the seventh time in nine games.
Bruce hit nine homers in rookie ball last season and now has seven in just over a month this season.
Oddly, all of his homers have come against teams from Iowa, and until Monday night, all on the road. And, with the addition of two against the Kernels, he has reached every Iowa team, including Quad Cities, Burlington and Clinton.
The Dragons needed all the homers they could get against the Kernels, who took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run homer by designated hitter Jordan Renz with two out.
Dayton's Paul Janish finished with two doubles and a homer of his own — his fifth — raising his league-leading batting average to .407.
Bruce raised his batting average to .308 and never worried about hitting homers at home.
"I figured if they were going to come, they were going to come," Bruce said.
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