Short on bench players, the Reds turned to a reliever for a big hit. Michael Lorenzen delivered a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the sixth inning for the go-ahead run during a 7-4 victory over the Phillies on Thursday. Cincinnati claimed two of three games in the season’s first series.
It was a 4-4 game in the sixth when Lorenzen lifted Adam Morgan’s 3-1 pitch towards the batters’ eye in center field for the second homer of his career. Adam Duvall’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh gave Cincinnati some breathing room.
Reds starter Rookie Davis labored in his big league debut and gave up four earned runs, five hits, two walks over three innings with four strikeouts. Daniel Nava burned Davis twice for two home runs — a solo shot in the first inning and a two-run shot in the third inning. Philadelphia had a 4-1 lead through three innings after Odubel Herrera hit a double and later scored from third base with two outs on a wild pitch as Davis didn’t cover home plate.
“Nava, what a performance he had today,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “It’s a shame we couldn’t have won that game. He really looked good at the plate.”
In his debut for the Phillies, Clay Buchholz could not preserve the lead. Cincinnati scored three runs in the fourth inning. After having the bases loaded with no outs, it took just one hit — Zack Cozart’s RBI single — to get runs in. Stuart Turner followed with a sacrifice fly and pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett’s broken-bat groundout scored Scott Schebler with the tying run.
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