The Cincinnati Reds clinched the NLC Division tonight with a walk-off home run from everyone’s second favorite left-handed slugger, Jay Bruce.

From the first pitch, the game had a buzz. When the team left on the road trip, the discussion began about whether the team would clinch on the road, and when they came home with a magic number of 1, Reds fans were bursting with anticipation.

Enter the Cardinals. They were in an ugly position yesterday. Probably the single-most unpleasant thing they could have done to the team was to lose and leave us to awkwardly begin celebrating in the middle of an off-day, but that would have also meant eliminating themselves with a loss against the Pirates. Happily for everyone, they saved their crash-and-burn at the hands of the Pirates until tonight. They lost 7-2 tonight.

So the team was set up for high drama. The fans were on the edge of their seats from the beginning, and they were scrutinizing every play with the highest of expectations. Drew Stubbs’ double off the wall in left field almost brought a groan that it didn’t have that extra 18″ it needed to go over the wall.

Edinson Volquez was great. Aroldis Chapman brought the heat. Scott Rolen did his RBI thang. But even so, the Reds found themselves tied with the Astros going into the ninth inning. Did the fans in the stands realize at that point that it was a karmic necessity for the team to go into the bottom of the ninth in that situation? I don’t know. But it was clear as soon as the ball left Jay Bruce’s bat that there couldn’t have been a better way to win.

Five more games remain in the season, and the Reds will be trying to gain some advantage in the home-field, though probably not as hard as they try to prepare everyone for the post-season, which they are now most definitely going to.

I could get used to typing things like that.

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds busted out the bats today, winning 12-2, after being a little frustrated in the two previous losses to the San Diego Padres this weekend.

Oh, and they also moved one game within clinching (not clenching) first place. Unfortunately, the stupid Cardinals managed to hold off the equally stupid Cubs, preventing the Reds from spraying each other with champagne for the first time since 1995.

Joey Votto, he who should be MVP, started things off in the first inning with his 37th home run. He would end up contributing a total of 3 RBI for the day, going 2 for 4. The other offensive star was Chris Heisey, starting in place of a banged up Jay Bruce. Heisey went 2 for 4, as well, with a homer of his own and a total of 4 RBI.

The rest of the offense got in on the act during the 8th inning, when the Padres bullpen imploded. The Reds batted around and scored 6 times to put the game out of reach.

Homer Bailey picked up his 4th win, pitching 7 innings, allowing 2 runs and striking out 6. Logan Ondrusek and Francisco Cordero shut down the Padres for the rest of the game and dropped the Padres to second place, a half game behind the San Francisco Giants.

Cincinnati will have a day off tomorrow before starting the final home stand. The team could clinch the division, though, if the Cardinals manage to lose against the Pirates.

The Cincinnati Reds are dipping their toes into the social media promotions arena. Today they announced a TweetUp event for the Tuesday, September 28 game against the Houston Astros.

The Cincinnati Reds have a special evening planned for our Twitter fans during the final home stand of the season. Catch the Reds vs. Astros on Tuesday, September 28th in our special TweetUp Section at Great American Ball Park along with several of Cincinnati’s favorite Sports Bloggers and Tweeters. The group will be located in the Sun/Moon Deck seats (section 145) where seats are only $11 (regularly $22). There will be many “celebrity tweeters” on hand to participate in the night’s festivities and greet fans.

I wonder if they’re going to do anything to address the piss-poor reception AT&T has at the park. I know that every time I’ve been to a Reds game this year that Twitter and the internet has been inaccessible. If reception isn’t improved, they’d better be ready with a Fail Whale poster.

If you’re in the area and have a Twitter account, it sounds like a good time. Tickets can be purchased here.