Homers by Reds' Frazier, Byrd help Lorenzen to win No. 1

PITTSBURGH — Michael Lorenzen is apparently a quick learner. The one big takeaway from his first big-league start was he needed to be more pitch efficient.

Lorenzen, the 23-year-old right-hander, was good and efficient Tuesday night. He earned his first Major League win in the Reds' 7-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates before a crowd of 16,822 at PNC Park.

The Reds are back to .500 at 13-13.

Lorenzen obviously saw the significance of his first win, but he expects more.

"That's what I'm here for," he said. "They brought me up here because they think I can win some ballgames. No. 1 is really special. But it's onto the next one."

Lorenzen went six innings and allowed one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out four. He threw 93 pitches. Lorenzen needed 107 pitches to get through five innings in his first start.

"I felt more comfortable," Lorenzen said. "More ready. My misses were better. They were down. I had more sink, more ground balls."

Lorenzen, in the rotation for the injured Homer Bailey, had a fastball Tuesday that reached 96. He mixed it with sliders in the mid-80s and curveballs in the high-70s.

"As coaches, managers we compete vicariously through our players," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "To see a kid go out there and have that kind of game against a very good team was very enjoyable."

Marlon Byrd had a big night offensively: He drove in four runs with a home run and a double.

"It felt good," Byrd said. "April was a struggle for me. I kept working and working. I tried not to get frustrated and find that feel I had the last two years. I've been working with (hitting coach) Don Long every day. It's slowly coming. It felt good tonight."

Todd Frazier got the Reds started with a line-drive home run to right-center. It was Frazier's ninth of the year. That made it five straight hits as home runs for Frazier.

Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce followed with back-to-back singles. Kristopher Negron worked a walk with an eight-pitch at-bat to load the bases.

Brayan Pena hit a bouncer up the middle that second baseman Neil Waker made a diving stop on — to the left-field side of second, no less. He flipped to Jordy Mercer, who completed the 4-6-3 double play.

Phillips scored to make it 2-0.

Starling Marte cut the lead in half with his seventh homer of the year, an opposite-field shot to right.

Lorenzen did not allow that spook him.

"I played in my mind how would a young person react to that normally," Lorenzen said. "They might get a little shy about pounding the strike zone — four home runs in two games. I told myself I wasn't going to do that. Trust what you have and keep attacking the zone. Don't give in. It's easy to be shy and pitch around guys. I wasn't going to let that happen."

Lorenzen retired seven straight after the home run.

"When he needed a strike, he could go get it," Price said. "He pitched to both sides of the plate with his fastball. This is a team if you pitch to one side of the plate, they can do damage."

Byrd made it 4-1 in the third. Billy Hamilton led off with a single. With Hamilton running, Byrd crushed a 2-0, 90-mph fastball to left-center for his fourth of the year.

Lorenzen was rolling along until the fourth. Walker singled with two outs. Lorenzen then walked Marte and Pedro Alvarez on four pitches each. Lorenzen escaped. Jung Ho Kang lined one to center, but Hamilton easily ran it down.

Lorenzen gave up a single to Alvarez to start the seventh. After Kang walked, Reds manager Bryan Price lifted Lorenzen for Jumbo Diaz.

Diaz got Mercer to line out to center, then induced pinch-hitter Corey Hart to hit into a 5-3 double play.

Tony Cingrani pitched an easy eighth.

The Reds then broke it open with three runs in the ninth.

Negron led off the ninth with a single, snapping an 0-for-23 skid. Pena bunted him over. After pinch-hitter Devin Mesoraco walked, Billy Hamilton hit a roller down the third-base line. He beat it out without drawing a throw.

Byrd followed with a two-run double.

"The double there to give us those extra runs was big," Price said.

The bottom of the ninth had some drama. Aroldis Chapman walked three and struck out three. Chapman hasn't given up a run this season.