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Cincinnati
Reds right fielder Donald Lutz (23) is
congratulated by third baseman Todd Frazier (21)
and first baseman Joey
Votto (19) after the Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 Sunday.
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Lutz's first HR backs terrific Arroyo in
sweep
Prospect knocks
three-run shot as righty throws 6 2/3 scoreless frames
reds.com
CINCINNATI -- Mother's Day is recognized in Germany, too, so Reds
rookie outfielder Donald Lutz made sure to call his mother, Marlen, at
home about an hour before Sunday's game vs. the Brewers.
"It was pretty funny when I called her [to say] Happy Mother's Day,"
Lutz said. "She said, 'What's wrong with your voice?' Because I've seen
sick. She said, 'Make sure you take your vitamins.'"
Lutz, the first German-developed player to reach the Majors, had more
than enough strength to help power the Reds to a 5-1 win over the
Brewers for a three-game series sweep. In the bottom of the second
inning against Wily Peralta, Lutz hit his first Major League home run.
"That was a big home run by big Lutz," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
"His first home run, so we were just afraid to slap hands with him,
because he's got some heavy hands."
To begin the bottom of the second inning, Brandon Phillips and Jay
Bruce hit back-to-back singles. With one out, the left-handed Lutz
pulled a 0-1 Peralta fastball up and in and sent it quickly to right
field.
Auf Wiedersehen, baseball.
Lutz's drive hit the foul pole, giving the Reds a 3-0 lead.
"That's the pitch we wanted," Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado said.
"We talked about that in the meeting, and then tried to throw a perfect
pitch, and he got a good swing on it. It's weird. Especially to keep it
fair -- that's a good piece of hitting right there. The funny part was,
as soon as he hit it, I thought it would be foul. But it didn't go.
That's the game, right there."
Called up from Double-A Pensacola on April 29 when Chris Heisey went on
the disabled list, Lutz is hitting .316 in nine games. Until the homer,
all of his hits were singles. A big 6-foot-3, 251-pound 24-year-old, he
wasn't stressing over not hitting one out -- even if he might be on
borrowed big league time, as Heisey is close to returning from a
strained hamstring.
"Obviously, it's a big one and helped us win the game and stuff," said
Lutz, who played hockey as a teenager before being turned on to
baseball by his brother Sascha. "It wasn't like 'OK, I have to hit one
now. I told everybody whenever it happens, it happens.' I already had
more singles here than I had in the Minors the whole six weeks."
After the ball hit the pole and bounced back on the field, a fan picked
it up from the dirt near the wall. The Reds were able to work out an
exchange with the fan to get Lutz the ball as a keepsake. Eventually,
Lutz will give the ball to his mom, who watched the game from Germany,
according to her son.
For Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, the homer helped him gain command of
the game on a day when he wasn't feeling his best.
"You don't want to keep zeros on the board early in the game," Arroyo
said. "We popped three [runs] up there, and it makes the offense feel
good and it doesn't feel like a one-day thing after putting up 13
yesterday. I think it helped us a lot."
Poor Brewers defense gave Cincinnati another run in the third inning.
Joey Votto was on first base with a one-out single when Phillips
bounced back to the mound. Given an easy shot at an inning-ending
double play, Peralta made an error throwing to second base that left
everybody safe. Next was Bruce, who grounded a potential double-play
ball to second base. Shortstop Jean Segura's throw to first zipped into
the camera well behind first base, letting Votto score.
Arroyo had no such issues as he and the Reds kept Milwaukee in check
much of the day. A one-out walk to Segura in the first was erased when
catcher Ryan Hanigan threw him out trying to steal for the third out.
Arroyo gave up Yuniesky Betancourt's leadoff double in the second
inning and retired the side in order with two called strikeouts.
In the fourth inning, Segura hit a leadoff double and Betancourt lofted
a soft one-out single before Arroyo escaped by getting Maldonado to
ground to shortstop for the inning-ending double play.
Arroyo pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings overall and allowed five hits
with one walk and five strikeouts to snap a personal three-start losing
streak. It also snapped a nine-game streak without a quality start for
the Reds rotation.
For the rest of this story and more, click here
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