The stage was set Friday night for the D-backs’ home opener. There were fans in the seats at Chase Field for the first time in 558 days. Kole Calhoun, fresh off of a stint on the injured list, had delivered a clutch two-run double in the seventh and Eduardo Escobar hit a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth to erase a five-run deficit.

All that was needed was a storybook ending.

Unfortunately for the D-backs, the book finished with the Reds winning, 6-5, in 10 innings to drop Arizona to 2-6 on the season.

"I was proud of the way these guys grinded late in the game to tie the score, and it's a pretty exciting moment there when Eduardo hit that home run to tie the game," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "You feel like you have a lot of things moving in a very positive direction, and you know, those last couple innings were great for all of us, and that's how good we can be and I want us to remember that."

The D-backs activated Calhoun, who had surgery on his right knee in early March, just prior to the game and were hoping that he would jump-start an offense that got shut out in Coors Field on Wednesday and held hitless through six innings there Thursday.

Through the first six innings it was more of the same, though, as the D-backs managed just one hit while the Reds steadily built a 5-0 lead.

Even though they weren't scoring, though, the D-backs were making the Reds pitchers work and were not chasing pitches outside of the zone.

"Give us some credit," Lovullo said. "Obviously we'd love to score early and play some downhill baseball. But we were able to get into their bullpen and score some runs against some of their back end guys. I was pleased with the patience. It just once again, it comes down to attacking the pitch you're looking for and doing some damage on it. And we're going to get there."

Calhoun led the team last year in home runs (16), RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.526), so getting his bat back in the lineup -- especially with outfielder Ketel Marte out with a strained right hamstring -- is important.

After going hitless in his first three plate appearances, Calhoun delivered a two-run double in the seventh and lined out to the track in left in the ninth.

"I mean, it was good," Calhoun said. "You know, I've been playing in the alternate site games and you can't really simulate the big leagues. Definitely nice to get back with the guys, get out there get in front of fans. It was a lot of fun. I mean, obviously wish we could have ended up on the other side of this, but nice little battle back, especially being down five, to a team with a bullpen like that."

That battle back, while it didn't make a difference in terms of the final score, did give the D-backs a different feel as they headed home.

"We were down five. I mean, if we roll over, and then we're having this conversation at 2-6, it's a little bit different," Calhoun said. "But we're down five and take a team to extra innings, and especially a team that's been playing [as well as] these guys have been playing. So it's one day at a time and just ended up on the wrong side of a one-run ballgame today."