CINCINNATI _ Perhaps it will take a little time for Francisco Mejia to get used to being behind the plate catching Padres pitchers.
In the meantime, the Padres could get used to what he does at the plate.
In his first start for his new team, the 22-year-old rookie hit his first two career home runs to get the Padres on their way to a 6-2 victory over the Reds on Thursday at Great American Ball Park.
Mejia, the minor leagues' top catching prospect who was acquired in a July 19 trade that sent Adam Cimber and Brad Hand to the Indians, gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the third inning and a 5-0 lead in the fourth.
He became the first Padres player in history to homer in the first two at-bats of his first start.
Having struck out in a pinch-hit appearance in his Padres debut Tuesday, Mejia on Thursday joined Seth Smith (March 30-April 1, 2014) as the only players with two homers in their first three Padres at-bats.
Batting from the left side against Reds right-hander Luis Castillo, the switch-hitting Mejia sent a low 96 mph fastball a few rows deep beyond the 12-foot fence in left field in the third inning. The 395-foot shot left his bat at 103 mph.
In the fourth inning, Hunter Renfroe had already hit his 20th homer of the season, and Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers were on base when Mejia came to the plate.
He pulled the first pitch from Castillo, which was at the knees and at least a couple inches inside off the plate, 387 feet and well up into the seats in right field.
Freddy Galvis walked to start the seventh and scored on Luis Urias' sacrifice fly.
Jose Peraza's three singles _ two off starter Eric Lauer and one off Robert Stock _ were the Reds' only three hits through six innings.
Home runs by Scott Schebler and Mason Williams off Trey Wingenter in the seventh made it 6-2.
Lauer lasted four innings, leaving after taking 32 pitches to get through the fourth and 86 pitches in all in his second start back from the disabled list.
Peraza led off the fourth with a hard-hit grounder off Myers' glove at third base before Lauer walked the next two batters to load the bases.
The rookie left-hander struck out Phillip Ervin and Schebler on full-count fastballs before getting out of the inning when Hunter Renfroe made a diving, tumbling catch of a sharp liner down the left-field line.
Lauer tied his career high with eight strikeouts. Five of those came in succession between the second and third innings.
Jose Castillo, who pitched the sixth inning, got the victory to improve to 2-2. Luis Castillo fell to 8-12.
Mejia, who grounded out and struck out in his final two at-bats, was making his first major league start as a catcher. Among his 18 plate appearances for the Indians were four as a designated hitter earlier this season. He had caught four innings in the major leagues, all of them over three games last September.
Mejia and Austin Hedges will split starts the rest of this season before the Padres work out how they both might fit on the roster next season _ or which of them could be moved in a trade before then.
Prior to Thursday's game, manager Andy Green said the Padres know it will take a while for Mejia to get up to speed calling games for a pitching staff that is new to him.
