Getz responds loud and clear to homer tidbit

ATLANTA -- Don't believe it when players say they don't read information posted on the scoreboard, and don't sell short the power of motivation.

Royals second baseman Chris Getz proved both points Tuesday night. Leading off the third inning, a note on the scoreboard mentioned his 954 consecutive at-bats without a homer.

Two pitches later, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound second baseman ended the drought, putting a charge into a Kris Medlen fastball and sending it deep into the seats in right.

"I actually saw it on the board while I was hitting," said Getz of his third career homer. "So that definitely added to the satisfaction. It's too bad we lost, and too bad it took so long for me to get another one up there."

It had been a while since his last homer -- it was the second-longest streak among active players, with only Philadelphia's Ben Revere maintaining a longer streak. Still, Getz knew this one was gone the second he hit it.

"I did," he said. "If that one's not going out, I'm never going to get one. It was just a fastball. I took the first one, and then felt I was ready to go and get on a fastball, and I happened to catch it pretty good."

The homer touched off a wild celebration, in part because it tied the game and also because, in an interesting twist, the pitcher against whom Getz had last gone deep was in the on-deck circle, Jeremy Guthrie, who surrendered one on July 19, 2009.

"It's ironic that I'm on deck when he hits the home run, since I was the last guy to give one up to him," Guthrie said, adding with a laugh. "But as you saw tonight, I can give up a home run with the best of them."

Guthrie's place in Getz's career history is now unsecured, and that's not a bad thing.

"He's off the hook," said Getz.