http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/sports/mets-reds-jay-bruce.html 2016-09-06 00:01:09 Lacking Sleep and Several Starters, the Mets Power Through The Mets were under-slept and resting Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Reyes and Curtis Granderson when they arrived in Cincinnati on Monday. === CINCINNATI — The “There was Red Bull on everybody’s seats this morning,” Collins said before the Mets’ 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Matt Reynolds, who played for Class AAA Las Vegas in Salt Lake City the day before, was also sleep deprived after flying all night to get to Cincinnati. And yet, he smashed a solo home run and drove in two runs. Kelly Johnson added a solo blast, his ninth as a Met. Collins did not start four key players — Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Reyes and Curtis Granderson — because of the quick turnaround and the potential risk of injuries. But the team survived in part because of the six shutout inning pitched by Bartolo Colon, who on Sunday afternoon had flown to Cincinnati ahead of the other Mets and was well rested. Looking half asleep Monday morning, with coffees in hand, players boarded the last bus that left the team hotel in Cincinnati at 11 a.m., two hours before first pitch. Jay Bruce, the Mets’ right fielder, was one of the last to arrive in the visitor’s clubhouse because he was coming from elsewhere. Bruce, the longtime former Red, got to see his wife, Hannah, and his 4-month old son, and he spent the morning at his place in Cincinnati. A month ago, the Mets had traded for Bruce to help their meager offense, so he had needed to leave instantly for New York. “We put the place on the market here,” Bruce said. “Trying to move out of a place when you’re not actually there to move out of it is tough. We’ve been trying. It’s part of it, though.” The Mets have surged into the thick of the National League wild-card race without much help from Bruce, who has struggled. He has refused to blame the transition, saying that the Mets’ players have helped to make his move seamless. He simply has not, he acknowledged, performed like the all-star outfielder he was in the first half of the season with the Reds. “I’m a big believer in ending the at-bat when the at-bat should end, whether you’re out or safe,” Bruce said over the weekend. “If you get a pitch to hit in the major leagues, you gotta hit it. I haven’t been doing that as efficiently as I was earlier in the season.” But Bruce’s production has slowly ticked up over the past week. Although he went 0 for 4 Monday, he had broken a near-month-long power drought Thursday with a home run in a key series against the Miami Marlins. On Sunday, he smashed a two-run homer against the Washington Nationals, his 29 “The closer we got to Cincy, the hotter he got,” Collins said humorously. “I’m glad he’s here. He can go across the way and get the remainder of his bats and his swing.” Before Monday’s game, the Reds honored Bruce, who had spent 11 years in the organization. They showed a tribute video that showed a baby-faced prospect, his first hit, his walk-off home run that clinched the N.L. Central title, and a clip of the entire front office saying thanks. Holding his son, Bruce stood on the field with his wife and tipped his cap to the sparse but applauding crowd. “There’s a lot of great memories and it’s really good to go back,” Bruce said before his arrival. After Bruce arrived Monday morning, he changed into his Mets workout gear, which included a white shirt with Cespedes’s face plastered on it. Bruce wanted to say hi to some Reds officials, but he was not sure where to go. “How do I find the field?” Bruce asked a Mets’ team official, perhaps affected by both the lack of sleep and his unfamiliarity with the other side of his former home stadium.