In his seven previous starts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Reds lost all seven games…through no fault of Greene.
They never scored more than one run, were shut out four times and were no-hit once.
Greene, though, is as hard to discourage as a used car salesman and took it all in stride.
When the Reds scored two runs in the third, it was like gold against the woebegotten Pirates and when they scored two more in the fifth it was pure platinum.
It enabled the Reds to sweep the Pirates for the first time since August 2021 and beat them for only the 18th time in 46 games.
Greene pitched seven innings and gave up two hits, walked one and struck out eight, lowering his earned run average to 0.98.
“For sure, I definitely feel I am at the point where I can throw any of my pitches for strikes,” he said after throwing 71 of them and only 27 for balls. “It is awesome, a good feeling...just my progression of becoming a pitcher.”
There are those billboards in Ohio that read, “Hell is real.” Opposing teams are believing that facing Greene is hell to pay.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Pirates had their chances in the first two innings but frittered away both.
After opening the game by striking out Enmanuel Valdes on three pitches, Bryan Reynolds doubled and Greene walked Oneil Cruz on four pitches.
But Endy Rodriguez flied out to right and Alexander Canario lined out softly to shortstop.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa tripled with one out in the second when right fielder Jake Fraley missed a diving catch. Greene then struck out Tsang Che-Cheng and second baseman Santiago Espinal leaped as if conducting a slam dunk and snagged a Henry Davis line drive.
That was it. Greene used 100 miles an hour fastballs, a splitter and an unhittable slider to retire the last 17 batters he faced. He has not given up a hit on his slider in any of his three starts.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“Anybody watching the game, if they saw the first two innings, they probably thought, ‘Ooh, it’s gonna be a tough one today.’ For me, that thought never crossed my mind.
“I was just trying to stay present, attack each hitter, one hitter at a time, one pitch at a time and let the cards fall where they may.”
The cards were stacked against the Pirates.
Said manager Terry Francona, “If I had his stuff, I’d attack, too.”
Of Santiago’s rally-stopping catch, Greene said, “That was a great play. He looked like (Michael) Jordan. He is a fantastic player and fantastic defender.”
Santiago played second base Sunday, but also has played third base and left field.
“It doesn’t matter to me where I play, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “As long as I get to play baseball, that’s all there is.”
With 98 pitches, Greene left after seven and Ian Gibaut and Tony Santillan retired the final six — 23 straight Pirates retired.
That’s not surprising. The Pirates’ team batting average is below .200 and two players in Sunday’s batting order were hitting .000.
Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski walked Austin Wynns with one out in the second, TJ Friedl doubled inside the first base bag and Espinal punched a two-run single to right.
Mlodzinski walked Noelvi Marte to open the fifth and Wynns singled. Marte scored on Friedl’s infield out and Elly De La Cruz singled for another run.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Espinal’s opposite field two-run single in the third was all Greene needed to help the Reds win for the fifth time in six games and scramble back to .500 at 8-8.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play, man,” he said. “We’ve been struggling with the hitting lately, so I just tried to put the ball in play and it worked out.”
After winning the first two games despite getting only four hits in both games, the Reds collected only six Sunday and Pittsburgh pitchers retired the last 11 Reds in a row.
Francona appreciates what Espinal lugs to the ball park every day, especially his versatility.
“Every good team you look at in the league needs a utility guy that they can plug in anywhere and feel really good about it,” he said. “Wherever you play him, he is going to catch the ball. He can hit the ball to the right side, which is valuable. He doesn’t strike out...there is a lot to like. He is very dependable.”
And Greene?
“If you’re asking me, is he pitching good? Yeah. He has been pretty special,” said Francona. “I haven’t been around him as much as everybody else has, but I’m watching him work.
“And I think you’re finding a good young player finding the next gear. He’s learning, good players keep learning. He has developed a splitter, he has that great slider, he holds his velocity and he competes. It’s been fun to watch.”
It’s not fun watching him from opposing dugouts. They aren’t worried about Greene’s next gear, they’re worried about the brakes he puts on them.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
About the Author