For the past few days, Reds role player Matt Davidson’s absence was conspicuous. The last time Davidson was seen in a game was 10 days ago, on Aug. 11. He didn't waste his opportunity to come through on Friday.

Davidson came off the bench and delivered a whopping pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning of the Reds' 4-2 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Cincinnati notched a season-low two hits in the game. The last time they won with two hits or fewer was July 29, 2015, also at Busch Stadium, on a solo home run by Jay Bruce off John Lackey.

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"It's very difficult to do what [Davidson] did, and to his credit, he stayed ready and just came up with a really, really big hit," Reds manager David Bell said.

Bell spoke to Davidson on Thursday about the lack of playing time. Opportunities have been scarce, partly because of the rule change that forces relievers to face at least three batters. Other managers know the right-handed-hitting Davidson is dangerous vs. lefty pitchers and adjust accordingly. There were also three postponed games mixed in.

"He’s doing everything he can to stay ready, and that will pay off for him," Bell said before Friday's game.

“I told David yesterday that I’m extremely pumped to be here and that I’m ready when he calls my name and I will be ready. And I was," Davidson said. "I know my role on this team. I just want to contribute, and I need to be ready for those spots, and that’s it.”

The payoff came a few hours later.

St. Louis had a 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning, and the Reds had just one hit, when a two-out rally against lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera started with two errors in one sequence. Center fielder Harrison Bader was unable to grab Eugenio Suárez's fly ball at the wall and then shortstop Tommy Edman was charged with an error for not catching Bader's desperation throw to the infield that allowed Suárez to reach third base.

"That gave us some life," Bell said. "That's what you have to do: You get opportunities and take advantage of [them], especially against the Cardinals, who are such a good team."

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Cabrera walked Mike Moustakas, and pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With Davidson summoned to pinch-hit for lefty hitter Josh VanMeter, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt went to his bullpen again, but he called for another left-hander in Tyler Webb.

Had a right-hander been brought in, Bell would have stuck with VanMeter. Davidson is a career .208 hitter vs. righties and came in batting .274 vs. lefties.

Not seeing pitches in recent games had Davidson at a disadvantage, but Webb threw two balls to open the at-bat and the percentages quickly improved for the hitter to get a good pitch.

"When the count swings in your favor, you feel great," Davidson said. "2-0 is a great count to hit, and I got a good pitch to kind of go for it.”

On the third fastball from Webb, Davidson crushed a grand slam that traveled very deep to left field. According to Statcast, the exit velocity was 113.1 mph and the ball carried 449 feet -- the hardest- and farthest-struck ball of the season for Cincinnati. He's homered in three of his last four games.

"To be honest, I thought he might have went changeup there," Davidson said. "He went heater up and then kind of like a glove-side heater, kind of cuts it in there. But I kept my timing for a fastball, and I just wanted to stay through it. I think that’s what kind of helped me keep it there and get it up in the air."

The last pinch-hit grand slam for the Reds was slugged by Michael Lorenzen on June 30, 2018, vs. the Brewers.

"Matt is unbelievable," Lorenzen said. "That had to have been one of the furthest balls he’s ever hit because it was a beauty to watch. That was one that I had a lot of fun watching. Me and [Travis] Jankowski were talking like, ‘Man, this is a great matchup for Matt here,’ so we were excited 2-0 came and he did his thing. That’s why he’s on this team. It’s difficult to do -- to come off the bench and come through in that fashion. Pretty impressive, so good for him."

Lorenzen was the winning pitcher on Friday with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless work after replacing Anthony DeSclafani with two men on in the fifth. The bullpen provided 4 2/3 innings of hitless work, capped by Raisel Iglesias in the ninth as the closer bounced back from blowing another 4-2 lead for a walk-off loss Thursday.

As the Reds evaluate their needs for the Aug. 31 Trade Deadline, both bullpen and bench help could be the focus. While the bullpen has scuffled, the bench has not produced. Going into Friday, there had been just two home runs, including one by a pinch-hitter.