CINCINNATI (AP) — Hunter Greene knew the emotions of making his first start of the season played a role in him having one of the worst outings of his career last week.
Greene's second start on Friday night was a reminder of how dominant the Cincinnati Reds ace can be when he is at the top of his game.
The right-hander struck out 12 and allowed only three hits in seven shutout innings of a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
“Like I mentioned in my first
game, the excitement got to me," Greene said. "You have to have a short-term memory in this game, and I feel like as soon as you’re able to turn the page, you can get your first steps into success going into your next start. That doesn’t mean forgetting or being negligent about what you didn’t do right in the prior game, but it’s not going down a rabbit hole at the same time.”
The 12 strikeouts are tied for the second-most in Greene's five-year career. He didn't allow a Cubs base runner past second base.
It was the ninth time since 1900 a Cincinnati pitcher had at least seven scoreless innings, struck out 12 or more and had one walk or fewer. The last time was Tyler Mahle on June 14, 2022, against Arizona.
Greene has struggled with injuries since being chosen an NL All-Star in 2024. He missed the first three months of the season after undergoing surgery on March 11 to remove bone chips from his right elbow. Last year, the right-hander had two stints on the IL with a right groin strain.
The 26-year-old Greene showed quickly that Friday night's outing wasn't going to be a repeat of his July 4 start against Baltimore, when he went only 3 1/3 innings and tied a career high with eight earned runs allowed.
Greene struck out six of the first 10 hitters he faced as he pounded the strike zone with his fastball and expanded it with his slider. In the first three innings, he allowed only one hit — a double by Seiya Suzuki — and was efficient with 38 pitches, including 29 strikes.
“He had power to his fastball. Then when he started maybe achieving a little bit, he was throwing off speed,” manager Terry Francona said. “When you’re pounding the zone and you have to start respecting different speeds or different locations, that can be difficult. I think that’s why you start seeing some quicker outs because they are starting to hit something early.”
Greene's only jam came in the seventh when Chicago had runners on first and second with one out, but Nico Hoerner lined out to center and Michael Conforto struck out.
Greene threw 68 strikes on 93 pitches. He also had 19 first-pitch strikes to the 25 batters he faced.
“He was not in good form in his first start. He was in good form this start, and it’s a really good fastball to both sides,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "And then the split to the lefties and the slider to the righties, and we we didn’t take very many good swings. I think we probably hit four balls hard tonight. Five base runners in total in the night, so that’s that’s not never going to be enough.”
It was the 13th double-digit strikeout game of Greene's career, which is sixth in the NL. Atlanta's Spencer Strider and Los Angeles' Blake Snell are tied with 19.
A healthy Greene could help the Reds have a better second half in what has been a disappointing season. The Reds are 43-50 and in last place in the NL Central after getting the second wild-card spot last season.
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