Lux tallies three hits in Triple-A debut

On Wednesday, Gavin Lux became an Internet sensation when the reaction to news of his promotion to Triple-A was captured in an emotional video. One day later, he arrived in style.
Baseball's No. 31 overall prospect tallied three hits in his Pacific Coast League debut Thursday, doubling and scoring a run as Oklahoma City walked off with a 6-5 win over New Orleans.

"It was fun," Lux said after the win. "The clubhouse and the guys here are awesome. Just going into the game talking about the pitcher [Mike Kickham], some of the older guys or some of the guys that have faced him a bunch gave me some good advice on the gameplan, the approach off the lefty who started today. That helped a ton, so yeah, it was awesome. It was good to get a walk-off win, though. That's the biggest thing for sure."

Lux singled on the second pitch he saw in the first inning, reaching on a liner to second base for his first Triple-A hit. The 21-year-old lined another hit to left off the southpaw in the third, and two innings later against righty Parker Bugg, he doubled on another line drive to left. It was his ninth game this season with at least three hits.
"It definitely helped getting that first hit out of the way in the first inning," Lux said. "It helped me settle in and calm down a little bit. [I'm] not overly aggressive or changing too much. The pitcher that we faced tonight threw a lot of cutters, so [I was] just going into the game trying to stick to the gameplan, which was to get them in a little more and let him throw it out over the plate. Just sticking to that and getting the results, seeing that is always good."
Gameday box score
The second-ranked Dodgers prospect ripped through Double-A with a .313/.375/.521 slash line that included 13 home runs and 37 RBIs in 64 games before his promotion during Wednesday's game. The shortstop earned a starting nod in the Texas League All-Star Game and finished with hits in 11 of his final 13 games for Tulsa. His viral departure from the Drillers lingered with the young star a day later.
"Coming from 'Henny' (Tulsa manager Scott Hennessey) -- who I obviously, as you can see in the video, I love the guy -- to hear it coming from him, it's emotional," Lux said. "There's stepping stones and milestones during the year, and any time you can reach one, it's good."
Though it was just one game, in his first five Triple-A at-bats, Lux already noticed a difference at final stop of the Minor Leagues.
"You're not just going to get a fastball just to get a fastball," he explained. "Guys are going to throw certain pitches to their gameplan until you can make an adjustment and prove you can hit it. There's definitely a difference."

Oklahoma City wasted little time in the bottom of the ninth after two quick outs. Los Angeles' No. 10 prospect DJ Peters walked, and two pitches later, Jon Kemmer hammered a double to right to bring him in with the game-winning run.
With his first one out of the way in Oklahoma City, Lux is ready to focus on making himself a finished product as a prospect.
"There's a lot of good players here, and learning from them and seeing what they do day to day and the preparation and all that, it's good for me," he said. "I can learn a lot from it. Going and playing and being as consistent as possible, that's the name of the game."