Hunter Greene proved Monday night why he is the Cincinnati Reds’ ace. The third start of the year for Greene saw San Francisco Giants’ ace Logan Webb on the opposite side of the rubber. It was a pitcher’s duel from the beginning with both Greene and Webb dealing, the former came out on top with a scoreless 8.2 innings and a massive win for Cincinnati.
Greene’s Performance
After he was forced to switch gloves after warmups due to a reflective Nike patch, his first pitch to Lamont Wade Jr. was a line drive right to Center Fielder TJ Friedl. A couple more hard-hit balls from Willy Adames and Jung-Hoo Lee ended the quick frame.
The second inning started with a nasty breaking ball strikeout to Matt Chapman, but he made it on first on the dropped third strike. Greene quickly worked around it, inducing a double play ground ball from Heliot Ramos. Wipeout slider strikeouts to Patrick Bailey and Adames to start and end the third inning had the starter cruising along.
He kept the ball rolling with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the 4th and 5th. In the 6th, after a two-out single from Adames, Greene fell behind in the count 2-0 to Lee. It was the first time he fell behind to that extent in the game. Lee was able to put a charge onto the ball deep into the vast right-center field, but it ultimately found Friedl’s glove.
Another pair of back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the 7th and 8th had Greene set up perfectly to finish the game, especially after the Reds offense snagged the lead on a two-run double from Blake Dunn in the top of the 7th.
The starter sat down the first two batters of the 9th but found himself one out shy of securing a complete game shutout. A sharp line drive single by Lee and a walk to Champan ended Greene’s night. Tony Santillan was able to get Ramos for the final out, with a spectacular diving play from Left Fielder Jacob Hurtubise.
Notes
Greene’s efficiency with his outing was the real winner. He was able to keep the ball around the strike zone without leaving many good pitches for the hitters to get their barrels on. This forced the Giants to be more aggressive and swing at the first pitch more often, helping out Greene’s low pitch count cause.
By the end of the 5th inning, Greene had thrown 55 pitches, allowing only two hits, and striking out five while walking none. He stood toe-to-toe with Webb, who has been as consistent as a workhorse can be for the Giants throughout his career.
Greene threw 59 of his 104 pitches as four-seam fastballs, six of them over 100 mph, with 28 more being at least 99. What kept the hitters guessing, however, was how filthy his slider was. He threw 33 of them, garnering 11 whiffs and major frustration from the other dugout.
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