Lutz makes most of season's first start

LOS ANGELES -- In his first big league start of this season for the Reds, first baseman Donald Lutz had a pretty good Tuesday night by going 2-for-4 with a double and run scored.

What made the performance stand out a little more was that it came after he had been largely idle for several days, and he did it against Dodgers star Zack Greinke.

"It was fun," Lutz said on Wednesday. "It's exciting playing first base, too. I love playing over there. It was cool. I stayed fresh. A lot of my friends were like, 'Good luck tonight against Greinke. You haven't played in a week.' It was all good. You do your best to stay loose and ready for whenever they need you."

Lutz, who batted .360 at Double-A Pensacola, was recalled on Friday after only five games at Triple-A Louisville. But other than one late-inning appearance on that first night to play defense, he did not see any action.

With Joey Votto on the disabled list with a left quadriceps strain, the Reds have mostly been using Brayan Pena as his replacement. With three straight right-handed starting pitchers coming up in the next four-game series at Arizona, might manager Bryan Price start the lefty-hitting Lutz vs. the D-backs?

"I think he'll play. How much he'll play, I don't know exactly," Price said. "With Joey out, it does free up some opportunities and playing time at first base. I love what Brayan Pena brings to the club every day he's in the lineup. It's not like there is a glaring hole in our lineup where it's easy to stick Donald into that."