It’s Hunter Greene’s world and we’re all just living in it and watching him dominate the opposition. The righty threw 7.0 shutout innings and allowed just two hits as the Cincinnati Reds completed a 3-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 4-0 win on Sunday afternoon.
Final
R
H
E
Pittsburgh Pirates (5-11)
0
2
0
Cincinnati Reds (8-8)
4
6
0
W: Greene (2-1) L: Mlodzinski (1-2)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
The game was scoreless after the first two innings, but the Reds offense got rolling in the bottom of the 3rd. Austin Wynns walked with one out to start the rally, and then moved to third base when TJ Friedl doubled. That set up Santiago Espinal for a 2-run single into center that put Cincinnati in the lead.
Two innings later it was still 2-0, but the Reds were ready to add to it. Noelvi Marte walked and stole second base to start the inning. He would come in to score the inning’s first run on a ground out. Santiago Espinal followed with single to put runners on the corners and that led to a pitching change for the Pirates. That didn’t matter for Elly De La Cruz as he singled into right field to bring in another run to make it 4-0.
Hunter Greene, who before the day had only seen his offense score a total of seven runs in 10 games for him against the Pirates in his career, must have felt on top of the world with a 4-0 lead. He continued his domination when he took the mound in the 6th as he got a ground out and then picked up strikeouts number seven and eight on the day. Greene returned for the 7th inning with 88 pitches in the game up to that point, but he needed just 10 of them to retire the side in order in what turned out to be his final inning of the game.
The game was turned over to Ian Gibaut in the 8th inning and he picked up right where Greene left off. The right-handed reliever got three outs on just six pitches to hold onto the 4-run lead and keep the shutout alive. Tony Santillan took the mound for Cincinnati in the top of the 9th inning. Like Greene and Gibaut before him, Santillan kept the Pirates off the board as he tossed a 1-2-3 inning on 11 pitches to complete the shutout, the sweep, and get the Reds back to the .500 mark on the year.
Key Moment of the Game
While writing Hunter Greene’s name on the lineup card was the biggest thing on the day, if we’re going to speak solely of one play in the game, it’s going to have to be Santiago Espinal’s 2-run single in the 3rd inning that put the Reds up for good.
Notes Worth Noting
Hunter Greene lowered his ERA to 0.98 with his 7-shutout inning performance. He now has allowed just 12 hits, walked four batters, and racked up 31 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. His WHIP is sitting at 0.58 on the year.
During the game it was announced that Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame member (inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1979) Tommy Helms has passed away. He played in parts of eight seasons with the Reds from 1964-1971, was the 1966 National League Rookie of the Year and was a National League All-Star in both 1967 and 1968. Mark Sheldon of Reds.com has a bit more on Helms here.
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