Hunter Greene unhittable in Cincinnati Reds rout of Chicago Cubs

Hunter Greene allowed zero hits in his day of work against the Chicago Cubs, keeping the Wrigley Field crowd dazzled in the process during CIncinnati’s 9-0 victory in the series opener. The future of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff looked very much the present, striking out 11 and allowing just a pair of walks through 6.0 no-hit, scoreless frames on a day when the team’s offense pounded out hit after hit and scored run after run. That’s your Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game, folks.

It was perhaps as thorough a team effort as possible, the Reds running rampant on Chicago starter Justin Steele early and often despite him entering play today having been one of the more succesful starters in all of baseball in 2023. The Reds jumped on him for 10 H and 6 R (5 ER), chasing him after just 3.2 IP after he entered play having logged at least 6.0 IP in 9 of his 10 starts this season. A total of five Reds had multi-hit days, with Spencer Steer coming just a homer shy of the cycle and each of Tyler Stephenson, Matt McLain, and Stuart Fairchild having 3-hit days of their own. Fairchild and McLain added walks, to boot.

Eduardo Salazar eventually surrendered a hit to Christopher Morel in the Bottom of the 8th to keep the no-hitter out of the history books, but that did nothing to change the dominance displayed by the Reds on the day. 19 total hits by the offense, utter dominance from their starter, and a trio of scoreless frames by the bullpen? That’ll do every single time, pig.

Tony Graphanino

[Link to interactive WPA chart & box score, via FanGraphs]

Other Notes

• As was noted by former fearless leader Joel Luckhaupt on Twitter, today marked just the third time in Reds history that a pitcher logged at least 6.0 IP with nary a hit allowed and 11 K recorded. The other two: the pair of Jim Maloney no-hitters.
• Today’s Friday matinee will be followed by a Saturday evening game in Chicago, as these two will get together again next at 7:15 PM ET tomorrow. Brandon Williamson will be looking to rediscover the strike zone while starting for the Reds, while Jameson Taillon will attempt to finally put up a zero or two as Chicago’s starter for the day.
• Tunes.