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Dateline: 1,209 Kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico
Hunter Greene dominated the Washington Nationals in a 6-1 win in the first game of a three-game series.
Greene struck out 12, two shy of his career-high on September 20, 2023 against the Minnesota Twins.
He fanned every Nationals batter at least once.
Santiago Espinal and Tyler Stephenson had two-out, two-run doubles in the first three innings to stake Greene to an early lead.
Greene took it from there, allowing one hit off a scary line drive from CJ Abrams that hit Greene in the back by his shoulder blade. He tossed a couple pitches and stayed in the game to throw 114 pitches. He struck out five of the last six batters he faced.
"He deserved to finish that inning," manager Terry Francona said. But I was getting angrier each pitch. At the same point I've got a job to do. The guys took a bullet off his shoulder, so I was feeling it a little bit. It was going to be his last hitter."
Stephenson hit two doubles in his first game of the season after recovering from an oblique strain in his lower back.
Espinal was 1-for-3 and ended the game with a .324 average.
Greene pitched six innings allowing two hits, including Josh Bell's fifth home run that accounted for all Washington's scoring.
"I was really trying to throw Abrams out but by the time I found the ball, it was too late," Greene said. "I was digging deep and trying to be a man of the people and get 11 strikeouts"
Reds fans in attendance get free pizza from LaRosa's with 11 strikeouts.
Elly De La Cruz was hitless but walked and scored in the first inning. He has reached base in 21 straight games.
Scott Barlow, Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagan each pitched a scoreless inning and added five strikeouts to the Reds' total.
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