Galvis, Hernandez power Phillies past Reds
CINCINNATI -- Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez homered, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday afternoon before 43,804 fans on Opening Day at Great American Ball Park.
Howie Kendrick went 3-for-5 with a double. Philadelphia roughed up Reds pitching with four doubles, a triple, and two home runs.
Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (1-0) made his second straight Opening Day start for the Phillies at Cincinnati and allowed one run and six hits in five innings.
Scooter Gennett, making his Reds debut, hit a two-run, opposite-field homer off Jeanmar Gomez in the ninth. Gomez picked up the save by retiring Billy Hamilton.
Monday's game featured two rebuilding clubs with two of the youngest rosters in baseball.
Because of injuries in the rotation, 34-year old right-hander Scott Feldman made his third career Opening Day start for Cincinnati. In 4 2/3 innings, Feldman (0-1) gave up three earned runs on a pair of home runs with six strikeouts.
Adam Duvall went 2-for-4 with a double and Jose Peraza also had two hits for the Reds.
Hellickson helped his cause with the bat in the sixth when his sinking liner skipped past right fielder Scott Schebler, bringing home Galvis. It was Hellickson's first career triple.
Cincinnati couldn't break through despite loading the bases twice and left seven on base. The Reds were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Feldman labored through a 27-pitch first inning in which he allowed two runs and four hits.
Hernandez started things for the Phillies with his first homer since Aug. 20, 2016, a solo shot to right field. He hit just six homers in 547 at-bats last season.
Michael Saunders narrowly missed a home run to left center but settled for a RBI double to make the score 2-0.
Galvis, looking to build off a 20-homer season in 2016, gave Philadelphia a three-run lead with a solo home run with one out in the second.
Feldman was visited by trainers in the third but remaining in the game. He later helped his cause with a two-strike sacrifice bunt, setting up Hamilton's sacrifice fly that produced the Reds' first run.
NOTES: Reds LHP Bronson Arroyo threw a 90-pitch simulated game on Sunday and remains on track to start Saturday in St. Louis. ... The Reds and Phillies met on Opening Day for the second straight year and the seventh time overall. Cincinnati is 4-3 in those games.