“People don’t take me seriously when I believe I can play both ways,” Lorenzen said after becoming the first Reds pitcher to hit a pinch-hit home run since Micah Owings in 2009.
“Use me,” Lorenzen added. “If you need me in the field, use me. I take care of myself physically and mentally to be able to withstand 162 games. It’s something that I believe I can do and something that being an all-around baseball player, I take pride in. However you want to use me, I’m ready.”
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Lorenzen was ready in the bottom of the sixth after Price had told him if there were two outs and no one on he would pinch-hit 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 scouting report and knew he liked to throw fastballs and changeups. So I went up there and I was going to hunt the fastball.”
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 of the season.
Here are five more things to know about Thursday’s victory:
Double debut
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 just three innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks. But before he left he smacked 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 three-run 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.
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Reed’s relief
Cody 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 six 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.
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 baserunner, and Drew Storen finished things off in the ninth for his first save as a Red.
In the first three games this season, the Reds bullpen has thrown 12.1 innings while allowing one run on seven hits with 14 strikeouts and seven walks.
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Sparse crowd
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.
Up next
The Reds open a six-game road trip Friday night 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.
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