In The Red

Nava homers twice in debut; Phillies drop 2 of 3 in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI >> The game was tied and the Reds’ bench was getting depleted. Relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen was excited to get a bat and help out.

Lorenzen connected for the first pinch-hit homer by a big league pitcher in eight years, putting Cincinnati ahead, and the Reds overcame a rough major league debut by Rookie Davis to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4 Thursday.

Adam Duvall added a tworun homer as the Reds rallied from an early three-run deficit to take the opening series, winning two of three.

Lorenzen’s solo homer — the second of his career — off Adam Morgan (0-1) put the Reds up 5-4 in the sixth inning. Manager Bryan Price used the reliever because he’s working with a shorthanded bench to start the season.

“I want to be an all-around player,” said Lorenzen, who also played outfield in high school. “Use me however you want. He knows when he sends me up to pinch-hit, I’m going to have a smile on my face.”

The last pinch homer by a major league pitcher came in 2009, when the Reds’ Micah Owings connected off the Cardinals’

Ryan Franklin, according to ESPN. Lorenzen connected on a 3-1 fastball, rounded the bases

and then left the game without facing a batter.

“He threw a fastball on 2-0, so I was able to get the timing,” Lorenzen said. “When he came back with it, I had the timing on it.”

Cody Reed (1-0) got his first major league win by escaping threats in each of his two innings. Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his first save since the Reds signed him to a oneyear, $3 million deal.

The Phillies blew a 4-1 lead set up by Daniel Nava’s pair of homers off Davis.

Nava hit a solo shot on Davis’ seventh pitch in the majors. He added a tworun homer in the third. The last Phillies player to homer in his first two atbats with the team was Jeremy Giambi in 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was Nava’s first career two-homer game.

“That’s not my game, but I’ll take them when they come,” Nava said.

Davis lasted three innings, gave up five runs, and had a rookie mistake. After Nava homered in

NICKNAME ORIGIN

Davis got his nickname from his father, Billy, who hoped his son — William Theron Davis III — would become a baseball player.

TWO NEW

Davis and catcher Stuart Turner made their debuts, the first time since 1900 that the Reds’ starting battery mates made debuts in the same game, according to Elias. Phillies catcher Andrew Knapp made his debut, too. It was only the second time since 1900 that both starting catchers made their debut in the same game. Max St. Pierre started for Detroit and Lucas May for Kansas City in 2010.

POWER SURGE

Nava’s two homers

UP NEXT

PHILLIES >> Open their 14th season at Citizens Bank Park. Kane Kalas, son of the late Harry Kalas, will sing the anthem from his father’s statue behind the left field foul pole. Sylvia Green, the widow of former manager Dallas Green, will throw a ceremonial pitch. RH Vince Velasquez starts against the Nationals’ Max Scherzer.

JOHN MINCHILLO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Cincinnati Reds’ Adam Duvall (23) rounds third base after blasting a two-run home run off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Adam Morgan in the seventh inning of Thursday’s game in Cincinnati. The Reds won 7-4.

JOHN MINCHILLO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Philadelphia Phillies’ Daniel Nava, left, celebrates with Mikael Franco after hitting a solo home run off Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Rookie Davis in the first inning of Thursday’s game. Nava hit two home runs in the loss.

JOHN MINCHILLO - AP the third, Odubel Herrera doubled, advanced on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch, aided by Davis’ failure to cover the plate. Clay Buchholz, who came to the Phillies last December for infielder Josh Tobias, couldn’t hold the lead. The Reds tied...