NEW YORK - Homer Bailey was at his best with runners on all around him.
Bailey pitched out of trouble for eight innings, Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer and the Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Mets 4-1 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory.
"Early on I was a little off and once I kind of got loose then everything started flowing pretty good," Bailey said.
Cincinnati moves a season-best 10 games over .500 at 37-27.
Bailey (5-4) worked his way through several early jams and took advantage of the ample dimensions at Citi Field. Though the fences were brought in before this season, David Wright hit two of four Mets drives that were caught within steps of the wall.
"Homer was outstanding," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He was dealing tonight. He's been pitching well. He got roughed up I think a couple starts before this, but other than that he's been very reliable."
New York starter Jonathon Niese (4-3) made one big mistake to Bruce during seven otherwise effective innings.
The left-hander was 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA in his previous four outings overall and had not allowed an earned run in 13 innings this month before Bruce connected in the first.
"I don't regret throwing the pitch. I regret hanging it on the inside part of the plate," Niese said. "Hindsight's 20-20. I probably should have thrown a fastball up and in and been done with it. Maybe he would have swung through it, maybe not. But that's baseball. It's one pitch, one mistake, cost me the game."
It was Bruce's second homer in two nights at Citi Field. The first one was an inside-the-park shot Friday.
"I'll take 'em both, that's for sure. But it's definitely nicer to trot around," Bruce said. "But at the end of the day it's the same result, so however you can get 'em you've got to get 'em."
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