Hunter Greene Strikes Out 12 in Cincinnati Reds' 4-0 Win vs. Cubs

The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-0 Friday night at Great American Ballpark. With the win, the Reds improved to 43-50 on the year. The Reds have two final games before the All-Star break, and could potentially be just five games below .500 at the interval.

Hunter Greene Puts Together Elite Outing

Cincinnati Reds Great American Ballpark Elly De La Cruz JJ Bleday Chicago Cubs Shota Imanaga Spencer Steer — Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene, pictured, Friday, March 18, 2022, at the baseball team's spring training facility in Goodyear, Ariz. Cincinnati Reds Photo Day March 18 0454 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Reds gave pitcher Hunter Greene the start on the mound for game one of the series. Greene made the most of his opportunity. Prior to Friday’s game, Greene had started just one game, back on July fourth against the Orioles in which he went 3.1 innings of work, while allowing eight earned runs and striking out seven Baltimore Batters.

Greene turned around and put together his best outing of the season against Chicago, going seven innings and striking out a whopping 12 Cubs batters. Greene got out on the right foot immediately, striking out two Cubs batters in the first inning.

Shota Imanaga was given the start against the Reds, and during the early goings was efficient. Imanaga was able to let the defense play behind him for the first two innings, but started showing signs of slowing down during the bottom half of the third when both Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart were able to collect base knocks in back-to-back at-bats.

Elly De La Cruz Gets Reds Offense Going

Elly De La Cruz finally broke the deadlock in the home half of the fifth inning when he homered off of Imanaga, taking him 400 feet to left-center on an 0-1 fastball. Greene turned around in the top half of the sixth and struck out two Cubs batters before getting Dansby Swanson to pop up to short.

The Cubs went to the bullpen in the home half of the sixth inning, ending Imanaga’s day. Imanaga finished with five innings of work, allowing seven hits and one earned run. Greene ran the table in the top half of the seventh, striking out two more Cubs batters.

Reds Offense Puts Game Out of Reach Late

Cincinnati broke the dam open in the home half of the eighth inning, effectively putting the game out of reach. Elly De La Cruz connected on a triple and scored when Stewart popped up a sacrifice fly to center. Spencer Steer followed it up with an infield single and JJ Bleday took the top off when he homered 417 feet to center to give the Reds a 4-0 lead.

Cincinnati will turn their sights toward tomorrow as Nick Lodolo is expected to get the start on the bump. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 P.M.

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