– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Once Hunter Greene trusted himself more, the result that he wanted was going to happen, which exactly is what happened with him and the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.
Greene dominated the defending World Series champions by throwing seven scoreless innings as the Reds defeated the Texas Rangers 8-4 inside Globe Life Field. Jonathan India and Will Benson both smacked two-run home runs in the seventh, which turned out to be more than just window dressing as Texas scored all four of its runs in the ninth to make the game more interesting at the end.
Greene, who earned his first win of the season, was perfect through three innings and retired 21 of the 23 batters he faced. He had allowed one earned run or fewer in four of his first five starts, but the Reds lost the game in each of those outings. Despite picking up the loss in his last outing on Monday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, Greene went seven innings in the game as well, with today marking the first time that Greene has completed at least seven innings in back-to-back starts.
“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.”
Greene credited his stellar start with a more patience approach on the mound.
“Watching myself and my outings, a lot of times I’m beating myself and not trusting myself on attacking the zone,” Greene said. “You gotta get the first dude before the second dude.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s contest, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 25 pictures in total.
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