Cincinnati, OH (My Sportsbook) - Jay Bruce belted a pair of two-run homers and Micah Owings threw seven impressive innings, as the Cincinnati Reds avoided a three-game sweep with a resounding 8-2 win over the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park.

"We came together today as a team," Bruce said. "We played good baseball and beat those guys. We can play with anybody. We came out and we showed a lot."

Joey Votto doubled twice and knocked in three runs for the Reds, who won for the fifth time in their last eight games. Owings (1-2) tossed seven strong innings, allowing just a run on six hits, and finished 2-for-3 at the plate. He also struck out six while walking three batters.

David Ross hit a solo home run and Brandon Jones also drove in a run for Atlanta, which snapped a three-game winning streak. Kenshin Kawakami (1-3) was saddled with the loss after being touched for eight runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Bruce belted a two-run homer over the left-field wall in the fourth inning, and Cincinnati put up a six-spot in the fifth. The Reds loaded the bases with one gone on a hit batsman and singles by Owings and Willy Taveras. Kawakami got Laynce Nix to line out, but Votto emptied the bases with a double to the right-field corner.

"For whatever reason [Kawakami] got the ball in the middle and up a little bit, and in this ballpark you can't make any mistakes hardly," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.

Brandon Phillips followed with an RBI single, and Bruce went deep again for an 8-0 Cincinnati advantage.

Ross put the visitors on the board in the seventh and Brandon Jones singled home Chipper Jones in the eighth.

Game Notes

The four RBI ties a career-high for Bruce, who recorded the third multi-homer game of his young and burgeoning career...Atlanta left 10 men on base...Chipper Jones collected three hits in the loss.