Hunter Greene shines in Reds’ win over Atlanta

Hunter Greene, fresh off the All-Star game, dominated Cincinnati on Monday night, pitching seven scoreless innings. The Reds’ offense was able to get things going early against Reynaldo Lopez and that led to their worst outing of the season as they built a four-run lead. Things got dicey in the bottom of the ninth, but Cincinnati cruised to a 4-1 victory to start their series in Atlanta against the Braves.

The Cincinnati Reds didn’t waste much time against arguably the best pitcher in the National League this season. Elly De La Cruz tripled into the right-field corner in the top of the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, then scored a pitch later when Jeimer Candelario hit a sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the second, Hunter Greene found himself in trouble after a leadoff walk followed by a hit at bat. He managed to strike out Adam Duvall and then get a groundout, but Sean Murphy hit a 99 MPH fastball, hitting it 112.6 MPH into left field. Will Benson, however, was ready to show his defense by making a run-scoring catch on the warning track to end the inning and help Greene break the deadlock.

About five minutes later, Benson came to the plate in the top of the third inning and took a 1-1 changeup and hit into the left-center field seats to give the Reds a 2-0 lead. With two outs, Elly De La Cruz beat out a grounder to the infield to keep the inning alive. It paid off as Jeimer Candelario hit a grounder down the line that hit the wall in foul territory and De La Cruz was on a run. Duvall, not expecting De La Cruz to round third base, was caught thinking about throwing to second before having to adjust and throw to the plate, but it was too late by then as the Reds shortstop scored standing up to make it 3-0.

In the fifth inning, Cincinnati’s offense got going again. Stuart Fairchild was hit by a pitch and then moved third base when Will Benson singled. A sacrifice fly by Jonathan India made it 4-0 and scored the most runs allowed by Reynaldo Lopez as a starter this season. In the bottom of the fifth, the Reds nearly lost a run because of sloppy defense. After a leadoff walk, Hunter Greene got what appeared to be a routine double-play ball to shortstop, but something caused Elly De La Cruz to throw slowly to second base. The out was made, but Jonathan India’s throw to first was late. Greene got the next out on the next pitch, but Nacho Alvarez Jr. hit a hard ground ball down the line that required an exceptional sliding catch by Noelvi Marte and a powerful throw to get the out and end the inning.

Hunter Greene started the 7th inning with just over 90 pitches, but having been dominant up to that point, the Reds kept him ahead by 4 runs. He battled with Adam Duvall for an 8-pitch at-bat before getting him a fly ball. Two pitches later, he got a fly out. But Sean Murphy battled for a 9-pitch walk. That led to a visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. Two pitches later, he got a fly out from Orlando Arcia to Stuart Fairchild in center field to end the inning.

After seven shutout innings and 112 pitches, Hunter Greene’s day was over and the Reds turned to Fernando Cruz in the bottom of the eighth inning while holding a 4-0 lead. After just nine pitches, he and his teammates returned to the dugout as his perfect inning sent the game to the ninth inning.

Cincinnati sent Alexis Diaz to the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning, and Marcell Ozuna led off with a single to left field. After getting a groundout at shortstop, Diaz walked Adam Duvall on four pitches to put runners on the corners. On the first pitch to Eddie Rosario, Duvall took second base on defensive indifference. The next pitch saw Rosario hit a sacrifice fly to get Atlanta on the board, but Jake Fraley was able to keep Duvall at second with his throw to the infield. A foul ball got him to third a few pitches later, then Diaz walked Sean Murphy to bring in the tying run.

After getting a visit from Derek Johnson, Diaz needed just one pitch to fly Orlando Arcia to shallow left field to end the game and seal a 4-1 victory.

Key moment of the match

That night, Hunter Greene’s name was penciled on the scoresheet.

Notes to note

Hunter Greene lowered his ERA to 3.14 this season. Over his last four starts, he has allowed two runs in 24.2 innings.

Elly De La Cruz’s triple in the first inning was his seventh of the season, a National League high. He also added his 49th stolen base of the season later in the game.

De La Cruz, along with Jeimer Candelario and Will Benson, had two-hit nights.

The win is the first of their 10-game road trip. They have two games left at Atlanta and three at Tampa Bay after a day off on Thursday.

Next game for the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds vs Atlanta Braves

Tuesday, July 23, 7:20 p.m. ET

TBD vs. Chris Sale (13-3, 2.70 ERA)