CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Jay Bruce had hit the ball hard twice, only to see the worst slump of his career get deeper. He finally ended it with a hit that nobody was going to take away. Bruce emerged from his 0-for-26 skid with a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning on Sunday, rallying Mat Latos and the Cincinnati Reds over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2. Bruce flied out to the wall in centre field and lined out to centre earlier in the game, so he took a little confidence into his game-changing at-bat. "I knew I wasnt going to go 0-for-my-career," Bruce said. "Id been making hard contact. I really didnt feel like I was 0-for-so-much." The Reds gained a game on the NL Central leaders by taking two of three in their series, moving to six back. Cincinnati has won 10 of 15 overall. "That could have easily gone the other way," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "We really didnt want to lose ground on this team." The Brewers have lost five of six but still have the NLs best record and a comfortable lead. Bruce hit a two-run shot with one out off left-hander Will Smith (1-2), who took over for Yovani Gallardo. Smith hadnt allowed a homer to a left-handed batter all season, holding them to a .143 average. The matchup with the slumping Bruce seemed to favour Milwaukee in every way. "Its a crazy game," Bruce said. "You cant be surprised by anything that happens in the game of baseball." Smith got ahead 1-2 in the count, then threw a fastball that was up. Bruce pulled it to right field, the part of Great American Ball Park closest to the Ohio River. "Hes given a lot of people trouble," Price said of Smith. "He made a mistake. You do that and hes going to hit the ball in that creek out there." A replay review overturned Ramon Santiagos inside-the-park homer in the Reds second. A fan reached his mitt onto the field and hit right fielder Logan Schafers glove as he tried to catch the fly ball in front of the wall. The umpires initially ruled the ball in play, and Santiago circled the bases as Schafer and the ball fell to the ground. Following a 3-minute, 46-second review, Santiago was ruled out because of the fans interference. Latos (2-1) allowed two runs and four hits in a season-high eight innings. Jonathan Broxton pitched the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances. Closer Aroldis Chapman wasnt available because he slightly pulled a hamstring while running in the outfield before the game. Both teams were missing stars. Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun was sidelined by a stiff back that forced him to leave Saturdays game. Manager Ron Roenicke said the problem doesnt appear to be series. Reds first baseman Joey Votto got a day to rest his bothersome left leg. Votto missed 23 games with a strained muscle above his left knee and has batted .250 without a homer since his return. The muscle isnt expected to heal fully until after the season. Latos made his fifth start since recovering from torn knee cartilage and a strained pitching forearm that sidelined him until June 14. He let a 2-0 lead slip away. Schafer tripled and scored on Scooter Gennetts groundout in the sixth. Schafer also doubled off Latos with two outs in the eighth and came around on Rickie Weeks pinch-hit single, making Latos smack his glove in frustration. In his last three starts, Latos has allowed a total of four runs in 22 innings, showing hes fully recovered from the injuries. Devin Mesoraco had three hits, including an RBI single in the first inning off Gallardo, who gave up two runs in seven innings. Gallardo was coming off his worst start of the season: 10 hits, eight runs in five innings of a 10-4 loss to Colorado last Sunday. He settled in after a rough first inning. Bruce grounded into a forceout that drove in a run, and Mesoracos single made it 2-0. NOTES: The Brewers open a seven-game homestand against Philadelphia and St. Louis on Monday. Marco Estrada (7-5) faces Cole Hamels (2-5). The Reds continue their homestand with the start of a five-game series against the Cubs. Mike Leake (6-7), who has won his last three starts against Chicago, faces Edwin Jackson (5-8). ... The Reds put C Brayan Pena on the paternity list and called up C Tucker Barnhart for his third stint this season. ... RHP Raisel Iglesias is guaranteed $26.5 million under his seven-year contract with the Reds and can earn an extra $500,000 this year between his salary of $1,016,666 and a $250,000 reporting bonus if he reports to a minor league affiliate and receives U.S. work authorizations by Aug. 15. He gets a $5 million signing bonus, of which $1.5 million due when the contract is approved by the commissioners office, $1 million on Nov. 15, $1 million on Nov. 15, 2015, and $1.5 million on Nov. 15, 2016. He gets a maximum $500,000 this year between salary and reporting bonus, and salaries of $1 million next year, $2.5 million in 2016, $3.5 million in 2017, $4.5 million in 2018 and $5 million in each of the following two seasons. Custom New York Mets Nike Jerseys . Wearing bib No. 1, Maze skied through the gates cleanly to defend her big first-run lead and finish 0.07 seconds ahead of Anna Fenninger of Austria. Defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third, trailing 0. Custom Detroit Tigers Nike Jerseys . Consider it received. Attacking on offence early and often, the Penguins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night as Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/?tag=custom-los-angeles-dodgers-nike-jerseys . The England international raised his middle finger toward Manchester City supporters during Saturdays game at Etihad Stadium, which Arsenal lost 6-3. The incident was not seen by match officials at the time but the FA charged Wilshere retrospectively after a study of video footage. Custom Chicago Cubs Nike Jerseys .A. Happ capped a challenging season with one of his best efforts of the year. Custom Authentic Baseball Jerseys . -- Andrew Wiggins is from Canada, Wayne Selden from Massachusetts and Joel Embiid from the African nation of Cameroon.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Too many fouls. Way too many turnovers — nine alone from their star point guard.So what if Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors werent perfect? Come overtime, they went from flawed to nearly flawless.We had so many mistakes on both sides, even defensively, coach Dwane Casey said. But it was one of those games, if youre serious about winning, you find a way to get it done and our guys did it.Lowry had 21 points and 11 assists, controlling the overtime period and leading the Raptors to a 95-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday night.Lowry had nine turnovers and missed a jumper that wouldve won it to end regulation, but then had two baskets and an assist in overtime, accounting for more points than the Knicks managed as a team.Terrence Ross added a season-high 22 points for the Raptors, who maintained the best record in the Eastern Conference at 18-6.It took overtime but I thought everyone stepped it up tonight, Lowry said.Carmelo Anthony had 34 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who played without injured guards Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.Anthony missed all three shots in overtime, when the Knicks went 1 of 8.They applied a little bit more pressure than they had throughout the course of the game and kind of got us playing a little bit faster than we wanted to play, Anthony said.Tim Hardaway Jr. got the start and scored 18 points, but missed eight of his final 10 shots and finished 4 of 15. The Knicks, who ended a 10-game losing streak with a victory at Boston on Friday, fell to 5-21.Ross gave the Raptors an 86-84 lead on a short jumper with 2:39 remaining in regulation and the teams then went scoreless across the next 2 minutes before the Knicks finally tied it on Anthonys drive with 28 seconds to go.Lowry missed a short jumper before the buzzer but Toronto then held the Knicks without a basket in overtime until Hardaways meaningless layup with 5.2 seconds left.Patrick Pattersons 3-pointer opened the scoring in OT and put Toronto ahead for good..dddddddddddd Lowry later made a pair of jumpers before feeding Amir Johnson for a basket that made it 95-88 with 1:05 left.Shumpert is expected to miss at least three weeks with a dislocated left shoulder. Smith is day to day with a small partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot.Coach Derek Fisher said Smith would start, but the former Sixth Man of the Year was ruled out after warming up.___TIP-INSRaptors: Toronto improved to 10-0 when holding teams below 100 points. ... Jonas Valanciunas had eight points and 13 rebounds, ending his streak of double-doubles at three games, which tied a career high. The last Toronto player with four in a row was Chris Bosh late in the 2009-10 season.Knicks: Smith said that the training staff had given him a whole new sole for his sneaker to make his heel more comfortable. ... With Jose Calderon and Quincy Acy, the Knicks starting lineup had two former Raptors. Andrea Bargnani, Torontos former No. 1 overall pick who was dealt to the Knicks in the summer of 2013, still hasnt played this season because of hamstring and calf injuries.COACH DEROZANWhile All-Star DeMar DeRozan is out with a torn groin tendon, hes spending extra time around his coaches. Casey said DeRozan has joined some coaches meetings, where he hears not only strategies, but criticisms of his teammates. Any worry that DeRozan will report what he hears back to them?I hope not, and if he does, Im telling the truth, Casey said. So Im not telling him anything I wouldnt tell them to their face.SEE YOU IN FEBRUARY?Lowry is the only player in the NBA averaging 21 points and better than 10 assists in December, and with the Raptors atop their conference, will have a strong case to be back here in February for the All-Star game. It would be one of them individual goals that you can check off, but I am not worried about right now, he said. I am just worried about this team to keep getting wins.UP NEXTRaptors: Host Orlando on Monday.Knicks: Host Dallas on Tuesday ' ' '