Jay Bruce hit a walk-off double to help the Phillies win their third-straight game last night.

That almost didn’t happen, since Bruce was originally going to be given the night off by manager Gabe Kapler, but as Kapler explains in this really cool post-game story, Bruce talked him out of it and asked to play.

Via Kristen Rodgers at FOX29:

Kapler on Bruce, after the jump:

“He said ‘I’m in there, and not only am I in there, but I give the Phillies the best chance to win a baseball game.’ As he was coming off the field right there, he said, ‘I told you,’ and I believe him. Everything he has said has been true from the time he got to the Phillies, from the time he walked into my office in San Diego and said he was still a strong enough defender to put out there every day, that his body was capable of bouncing back. He’s proven that to be true. That he can hit left-handed pitching, he’s proven that to be true. I’ll never doubt another word Jay Bruce says.”

Hell yeah man. In 19 games for the Phils, Jay Bruce has seven home runs and 20 RBI with a .981 OPS.

That’s pretty, pretty good, as Larry David would say: