CINCINNATI -- 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."
• Nava on fast start: 'It's a good feeling'
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.
• With velo down, Buchholz focused on finesse

"There was a lot of things that happened in that game, but it had a little bit of something of everything there in that game," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "Guys hung in there. It was good to see [us] be down 4-1 early and come back."
• Price on Davis' debut: 'A lot of things went well'
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Lorenzen's smash: According to Statcast™, Lorenzen's homer left the bat at 108 mph and traveled 420 feet. It was also the first time a big league pitcher knocked a pinch-hit homer since Micah Owings did it for the Reds on May 10, 2009, vs. the Cardinals. Lorenzen was already pitching in a game on Aug. 19 last season when he hit a homer vs. the Dodgers.
"I don't get all the reps everyone else does. I've just simplified it," Lorenzen said. "On 3-1, it's easy to get big and say I'm going to hit a home run and try and pull the ball. I had to tell myself to stay nice and easy and let the velo do the work. That's what happened." More >

Deep sixed: The Phillies self-destructed potential rallies in the fifth and sixth innings. Reds reliever Cody Reed walked Nava and Herrera to start the fifth, but Maikel Franco struck out swinging and Michael Saunders bounced into an inning-ending double play. Reed then walked Andrew Knapp and Brock Stassi to start the sixth. But Knapp got picked off second when he got caught between second and third after Freddy Galvis pulled back a bunt attempt. Galvis then hit into an inning-ending double play. Reed picked up his first big league win.
"Fifth and sixth innings, we should have scored," Mackanin said. "We had first and second no outs in consecutive innings and just couldn't get anything across. There was one baserunning mistake by Knapp, and double plays took us out of both innings."

QUOTABLE
"It was a great team win. I can't say enough about these guys in the clubhouse and the way they rallied behind me and picked me up. It was awesome to see." -- Davis
"I hit one home run in high school. And that was over a three-foot fence senior year." -- Nava, who homered in his first plate appearance with the Red Sox in 2010 and Thursday with the Phillies. He said it hasn't happened anywhere else.

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
For the second time since 1900, both teams' starting catchers -- Turner of the Reds and Knapp of the Phillies -- made their Major League debuts in the same game. The only other time it happened in history was when the Tigers and Royals played Sept. 4, 2010, with Max St. Pierre and Lucas May behind the plate.

WHAT'S NEXT
Phillies: The Phillies return to Philadelphia to play their home opener on Friday afternoon against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. It will be Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez against 2016 National League Cy Young Award winner and Nationals ace Max Scherzer.
Reds: The first road trip of the season will begin in St. Louis on Friday in the opener of three-game series vs. the Cardinals. First pitch is set for 8:15 p.m. ET, with Amir Garrett scheduled to make his Major League debut against former Red Mike Leake. The 24-year-old Garrett, Cincinnati's No. 2 prospect, was 3-1 with a 4.22 ERA in six Cactus League starts to earn a rotation spot.
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