Hunter Greene was brilliant on Friday night under the lights in Cincinnati. The Reds ace struck out 12 batters and gave up just one run in another dominant start. The bullpen took care of final three innings as they held on to a 6-1 lead for a win to start the 3-game series against the Washington Nationals.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Nationals (14-19) | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (18-15) | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Greene (4-2) L: Parker (3-2) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
After nearly two hours of sitting around and waiting for the game to begin after rain came through and delayed first pitch, the Cincinnati Reds were ready to get to work. Santiago Espinal made Mitchell Parker pay for his walks to Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz in the 1st inning by cracking a 2-out, 2-run double to put the home team on top early. The next inning the Reds added another run on a ground out to expand their lead to three runs.
Hunter Greene, who had recorded all three of his outs in the 2nd inning via the strikeout, came back in the 3rd inning and did so again. The Cincinnati offense also came back and repeated what they had done in the previous inning and added to their lead. With two men on, Tyler Stephenson laced a double down the left field line to bring both of them in as he picked up his first hit of the season and push the lead to 5-0.
The Washington Nationals would get on the board in the top of the 5th inning on a solo home run by Josh Bell to lead off the frame. After a ground out, Greene retired the next two batters via the strikeout, giving him nine on the night. The Reds ace returned for the 6th inning and worked around a walk with three more strikeouts to hold the 5-1 lead and give himself 12 strikeouts on the night.
In the bottom of the inning the offense played add on when Tyler Stephenson led off with a ground-rule double and then came around to score on a sacrifice fly by TJ Friedl. After 114 pitches in six innings, the Reds turned the game over to Scott Barlow in the 7th. He picked up where Greene left off and tossed a hitless inning. Tony Santillan then pitched a shutout 8th inning. Emilio Pagan worked around a walk in the 9th inning with three strikeouts to end the game and give him team a 6-1 win.
Key Moment of the Game
When Terry Francona wrote “Hunter Greene” in the starting pitchers line on the lineup card. Greene’s 1-run, 2-hit performance kept the Nationals in check and out of the game rather early.
Notes Worth Noting
Hunter Greene lowered his ERA to 2.53 on the year. In his 42.2 innings he’s given up just 27 hits, walked just eight batters, and he’s racked up 55 strikeouts. Greene’s 12-strikeout performance was his first double-digit strikeout game of the season and it was the second most strikeouts he’s had in a game as a big leaguer. On September 20th or 2023 he had a career best 14 strikeouts against Minnesota.
Elly De La Cruz went hitless for the second game in a row. But he also drew a walk in the game to extend his on-base streak to 21 games.
Santiago Espinal picked up another hit on the night and raised his average to .324 on the season. During his 24 games he’s struck out just five times this year. His walk on the night gave him seven on the season.
The Reds pitching staff had 17 strikeouts on the night. Cincinnati batters only struck out five times in the game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Washington Nationals vs Cincinnati Reds
Saturday, May 3rd, 6:40pm ET
Trevor Williams (1-3, 5.70 ERA) vs Nick Lodolo (3-2, 2.25 ERA)
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