1. Double debut:
and something that being an all-around baseball player, I take pride in. However you want to use me, I’m ready.”
Lorenzen was ready in the sixth after Price had told him if there were two outs and no one on he would pinchhit for Cody Reed.
“I hit in the cage quite a bit,” he said. “Take some swings and start to kind of figure out my approach and what I’m going to look for. I just looked at the scout- ing report and knew he liked to throw fastballs and changeups.
“So I went up there and I was going to hunt the fast- ball.”
He got one on a 3-1 pitch and sent it over the wall in center field for his second career home run and a 5-4 lead. Adam Duvall added a two-run homer in the seventh to cap a comeback from a 4-1 deficit to give the Reds back-to-back wins heading into their first road trip.
Here are five more things to know about Thursday’s victory:
Pitcher Rookie Davis and catcher Stuart Turner each made their big-league debuts, marking the first time in Reds history that battery mates did so in the same game.
Davis lasted three innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks. But before he left he hit a double to left on the first pitch of his first career at-bat.
Turner went 0 for 2 but collected his first RBI on a sacrifice fly as part of a threerun fourth inning that got the Reds even at 4-4.
The last time a team’s pitcher and catcher made their big-league debuts in the same game was Sept. 4, 2008, with Washington pitcher Shairon Martis and catcher Luke Montz at Atlanta.
2. Reed’s relief:
Reed didn’t have the most successful season debut, but he’ll take it after going 0-7 with a 7.36 ERA last year.
Reed pitched the fifth and sixth and put the first two batters on in each frame. But both times he worked out of trouble by getting inning-ending double plays.
And Lorenzen’s home run enabled Reed to record his first big-league win.
3. Bullpen dominance:
In addition to Reed, four other Reds relievers combined to blank the Phillies on one hit over the final six innings after Davis’ rough start put the Reds in a 4-1 hole.
Wandy Peralta, Tony Cingrani and Blake Wood each held the Phillies without a base runner, and Drew Storen finished things off in the ninth for his first save as a Red.
In the first three games, the Reds bullpen has thrown 12⅓ innings while allowing one run on seven hits with 14 strikeouts and seven walks.
The announced attendance of 10,586 was the smallest at Great American Ball Park since a Sept. 17, 2009 game against Florida drew 9,685.
It was the smallest crowd to see the Reds play in any venue since May 11, 2010, when there were 9,027 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
The Reds open a six-game trip tonight in St. Louis with a pitcher making his big-league debut in Amir Garrett. The Cardinals will counter with former Red Mike Leake.
Bronson Arroyo is expected to be called up from Triple-A to start Saturday afternoon’s game against Michael Wacha.
Opening day starter Scott Feldman will oppose Carlos Martinez in Sunday’s finale.
4. Sparse crowd: 5. Up next:
Six and a half CINCINNATI — months after being denied a replay review on a controversial walk-off hit in St. Louis, Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price could laugh about the odd way Wednesday night’s game ended.
With the Reds leading 2-0 with two outs in the ninth, Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera was called out at second base on a steal attempt.
Cincinnati pitcher Raisel Iglesias raised his hands in triumph. Teammates ran to greet him. Fireworks exploded overhead. And Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin cupped his hands over his ears, signaling to crew chief Tom Hallion that he wanted to challenge the call.
“The one thing we were told in the aftermath of the play in St. Louis is anytime anything happens that ends a game, you’d be covering your bases if you got a hold of the home plate umpire and said, ‘Hey, we’re just taking a look,’” Price said.
In that game in St. Louis, Price never got the chance to challenge whether Yadier Molina’s walk-off double should have been a groundrule double, which would have prevented the win- ning run from scoring. The umpires left the field and then refused to review it, saying Price waited too long to challenge the call.
In the offseason, MLB insti- tuted a 30-second limit for managers to challenge a call. Mackanin didn’t take any chances Wednesday, imme- diately signaling for a review.
“In that situation you had to check because it could have been the last out of the game, and it was a bang- bang at second base,” Price said. “It was an awkward throw and tag. They handled it exactly as they should. I expected that they would challenge that play.
He won the challenge, and play resumed, but Iglesias struck out Tommy Joseph two pitches later to set off more fireworks and official victory celebration.
“What would be unusual is if you have a player soaked in purple Gatorade and the play is overturned, and they’ve got to go back out there and continue to play,” Price said. “It would’ve been interesting in St. Louis if I could have gotten out there in time. Then their whole team would have been covered in water and Gatorade.
“The only thing I don’t like about that is that can really kill the excitement of the ballgame,” he added. “I wouldn’t want to do that unless there was some sense that something could have gone awry on that last play.