Hunter Greene delivered one of his best starts of the season Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, but it wasn’t enough to match Miami Marlins righty Pablo López.
In a pitcher’s duel where somebody had to blink first, Greene permitted two runs in the fifth inning and López allowed one. That was the difference in the Cincinnati Reds’ 2-1 loss, snapping their eight-game home winning streak against the Marlins dating back to 2019.
"That's as good as stuff we've probably seen all year," Reds Manager David Bell said.
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Bell was referring to López, but he had similar compliments for Greene: "I think that's as good of stuff as Hunter's had all year."
Greene, who had an excellent fastball and slider, threw 105 pitches and there was one he wished he had back. He surrendered a two-out, two-run single to Joey Wendle in the fifth inning on a 100-mph fastball that caught too much of the plate.
"We’re in the sausage-making industry," Greene said. "The process isn’t beautiful but the finished product – as long as you work hard – is a pretty good outcome, it’s sexy. That’s my focus. Being able to do that is going to take time."
With the way López was pitching, there was no underestimating the importance of those runs. The Reds had two hits against him: a leadoff single from Jonathan India in the first inning and a solo homer from Mike Moustakas in the fifth.
López, rumored to be available on the trade market, matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts while giving up two hits and one run in seven innings. He retired 18 of his final 19 batters with only three balls leaving the infield.
"Mixed fastballs, sliders, curveballs, cutters, he commanded everything tonight," Moustakas said. "We've run into some pretty good arms over these last couple of weeks and that was a phenomenal start by him."
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Tuesday’s start represented a step forward in Greene’s development, but his 12th loss of the season, which is the second-most in the Majors.
Greene, making his first start following the All-Star break, had a certain look about him. It’s the look when a pitcher knows he’s in rhythm and hitters are powerless to stop him.
He toed the rubber in the fourth inning and stared at catcher Michael Papierski as Avisaíl García walked into the batter’s box. Greene fed García two fastballs, 101 mph and 100 mph, before striking him out with a 94-mph slider that darted well past the outside corner. García slapped the head of his bat after whiffing on the third pitch.
"He always has good stuff," Bell said of the 22-year-old Greene. "That usually isn't the question. I think what's behind it, for any player, just the belief, the confidence, the ability to trust it. That's every player that's ever played the game. It's the biggest challenge. It's easy to say 'well, you have, great stuff, trust it.' But I think that's a learned ability also, especially at this level for the first time.
"We're almost into August and he had one of his best starts. That's a great sign."
Greene had an 11-pitch first inning, an eight-pitch third inning and a nine-pitch fourth inning. He was firing first-pitch strikes and hitters didn’t have much of a chance when they were taking defensive swings. He retired 12 of his first 15 batters, and left fielder Tommy Pham erased one of the hits by tossing out Jacob Stallings trying to stretch a single into a double.
It was the third-longest start of Greene’s career, completing 6 1/3 innings. He yielded nine hits, but he struck out six and walked one. He threw 38 fastballs above 100 mph, one shy of his own record for most pitches above 100 mph in a start since pitch-tracking data was collected in 2008.
“I just simply challenged them, kept going after them," Greene said. "If they get a little hit here, a hit there, I kept going after them and just competed. That’s my biggest takeaway from tonight.”
After Greene gave up two runs in the top of the fifth inning, Moustakas responded with his third homer in his last six games. He was previously stuck on 199 career homers for 37 games, but he ended a nine-pitch at-bat against López with a 396-foot blast to center field.
The Reds didn’t produce another baserunner after Moustakas’ homer, unable to create any offense against Miami relievers Anthony Bass and Tanner Scott in the last two innings.
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