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Arroyo guides Reds past Brewers

May 12, 2013 - 11:39 PM Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Bronson Arroyo fired 6 2/3 shutout innings and Donald Lutz hit a historic three-run homer that carried the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and a sweep of the three-game series between the NL Central foes.

Lutz became the first German-raised player to homer in a major league game when he connected off Brewers starter Wily Peralta in the bottom of the second inning. It provided more than enough support for Arroyo (3-4), who held the reeling Brewers to five hits while striking out five to earn his first win since Apr. 15.

Xavier Paul added a pinch-hit solo homer later on in the triumph, the Reds' seventh in nine games.

Jean Segura and Yuniesky Betancourt each had a pair of hits for Milwaukee, which fell to 1-9 in May. Peralta (3-3) lasted six innings and was reached for four runs -- three earned -- on five hits.

"Things are not going well for us," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke stated. "The other teams are doing everything right, and we're not playing well."

Lutz's line drive off the foul pole in right staked Cincinnati to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, with Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce scoring on the rookie's blast after each had reached via singles.

"Obviously, it's a big one and helped us win the game and stuff," said Lutz, who was called up from the minors in late April. "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."

Aided by a pair of Milwaukee errors, the Reds tacked on another run in the third.

After Joey Votto singled with one out, Peralta threw wildly to second after grabbing a comebacker off the bat of Phillips to put runners at the corners. Bruce then bounced into a force play that brought home Votto, and wound up on second after Segura misfired on the relay throw from shortstop.

Arroyo encountered little trouble during his stint, with Milwaukee's best threat against the veteran coming when Segura doubled to lead off the fourth and Betancourt singled two batters later. Arroyo prevented any damage, however, by inducing a double-play grounder from Martin Maldonado to end the inning.

A Rickie Weeks single that followed a hit batsman ended Arroyo's day with two outs in the seventh, but Sam LeCure struck out Jeff Bianchi looking to keep the shutout bid intact.

"I was laboring every inning," Arroyo admitted. "It probably didn't look like that. After the sixth, I told them those 65 pitches felt like 90 and to just be aware of that to have somebody ready to go. I knew I was getting away with some pitches I normally wouldn't, and that game could get out of hand quicker than you thought."

Paul put the finishing touches on the sweep by greeting Mike Fiers with a shot into the right-field seats to begin the bottom of the seventh.

Milwaukee finally got on the board with an unearned run in the eighth. Alex Gonzalez laced a leadoff single off Jonathan Broxton, reached third on a Segura base hit and came around on a passed ball by Cincinnati catcher Ryan Hanigan.

Game Notes

Arroyo produced the first quality start by a Reds hurler since he tossed seven innings of two-run ball at St. Louis on Apr. 30, ending the team's stretch of nine straight outings without one ... Lutz is now batting .462 (6-for-13) during a six-game hitting streak ... Segura finished the series 8-for-12 with a pair of solo homers ... The Brewers fell to 2-10 at Great American Ball Park since the start of the 2012 season.