Joey Votto Drives in 4 Runs Jay Bruce Homers for the 4th Straight Game

The Reds ended April with an 11-11 record after dropping eight of the first 12 games with a 6-5 win over the Houston Astros.

Joey Votto hit a two run home run, his second off rookie Jordan Lyles, who was making an emergency start for the Astros.  Jay Bruce homered for the fourth straight game to supply the winning margin.

Bruce hit reliever Fernando Rodriguez's first pitch of the eighth inning into the right field seats for his seventh home run of the season.

"This is what we play for.  This is a hard game.  There are a lot of times when its not much fun," Bruce said.

Votto is showing signs of heating up.  He went 19 games between home runs and ended the month with a .289 batting average that is on the rise.  His 15 RBI is second to Bruce's 17.

The Reds slow start may be a blessing in disguise.

"The way we started was really ugly," Votto said.  "It was a shock to everybody.  It was humbling, but I think it was a good thing. I'm a firm believer in that, while you don't want to start bad, it doesn't hurt.  It makes you concentrate on fundamentals.  I think a losing record early in the year can be a good thing.

Mat Latos allowed five runs on 10 hits, that tied a career high in 6 1/3 innings.

"They picked me up when I was a little under the weather," Latos said.  "I just tried to grind it out."

The bullpen turned in another scoreless effort.

Logan Ondrusek earned the win with a perfect eighth but Jose Arredondo kept Houston from scoring on a bases loaded situation in the seventh inning.

Ondrusek has turned in 11 scoreless innings on the season.

Sean Marshall used a diving catch by Brandon Phillips to navigate a scoreless ninth.  He was back in the saddle after suffering his first blown save on Thursday against San Francisco.

"It was great job by the bullpen," Dusty Baker said.  "I'm going to enjoy this one and the way we won it."