Hard-throwing Reds right-hander Hunter Greene held the Texas Rangers to one hit over seven scoreless innings, and Jonathan India homered while driving in four runs on a four-hit day as Cincinnati beat the reigning World Series champions 8-4 on Saturday.
Greene (1-2) struck out six and walked one while throwing 63 of his 98 pitches for strikes while relying mainly on his fastball and a few sliders.
“Just trusting myself being able to attack the zone,” Greene said. “When you attack the zone, great things happen.”
The last Reds starter with a scoreless start of at least seven innings and six strikeouts, and one or no hits, plus one or no walks was Greene in June 2022. The right-hander at 24 years and 265 days old became only sixth major league pitcher with that kind of line twice by that young age, according to Stathead.
“He’s going deep into the game. … That is important, but he’s pitching really well and he’s making improvements,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Really was on the attack the whole day, so was able to accomplish both, going deep into the game and limiting runs. That’s a great start.”
Brent Suter relieved him with a perfect eighth before allowing six hits in the ninth, including back-to-back homers by rookie Davis Wendzel and Corey Seager. Alexis Díaz got the last two outs for his sixth save in seven chances.
“It’s always good to show life when things weren’t looking so good for eight innings,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s just tough sledding. We faced a guy with a really good fastball and he used it well. … We just couldn’t do much with him. He was on top of his game.”
