CINCINNATI -- On the 114th pitch from Hunter Greene, Keibert Ruiz swung through a 98.4 mph four-seam fastball, and in the process lost the grip on his bat, which sailed into the netting above the home dugout.
It was that kind of night for Nationals batters against the Reds’ ace.
Greene, coming off his worst two outings of the season, struck out a season-high 12 across six innings, and Tyler Stephenson doubled twice and drove in two in his first game back, as the Reds defeated the Nationals 6-1.
The start of the game was delayed one hour and 51 minutes by rain.
Santiago Espinal’s two-run double put the Reds ahead 2-0 in the first. Stephenson doubled home two more in the third to make the score 5-0.
That was more than enough support for Greene (4-2), who was much more like the Hunter Greene the Reds are accustomed to seeing. In his previous two starts, he allowed a combined eight earned runs and five homers over nine innings.
The only hit he allowed through the first four innings on Friday was a 96.6 mph line drive by CJ Abrams that caromed off Greene’s back for an infield single.
There was initial concern for Greene, who was evaluated on the mound immediately upon being struck. But there was no chance he was leaving the game.
“You have a lot of adrenaline so it’s different than if I got hit in practice,” Greene said. “I’m sure I’ll feel it a little bit more. I know how to recover and be ready for my next start.”
“It scares you, that ball was a bullet,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “He’ll be sore tomorrow.”
The only other hit off Greene was a solo homer by Josh Bell, who led off the fifth.
“If you’re commanding fastballs at 100 mph up and in, you’re going to have success,” Bell said. “So he had that tonight, at least against the lefties.”
“His stuff tonight was dominant,” Francona said. “First time through the order, he threw some really good offspeed pitches. They made some adjustments. Not getting hits, but they made him work. They did a good job not giving in.”
Greene shook off the lengthy rain delay and tossed 114 pitches -- the most by any MLB hurler this season. The Nationals got Greene’s pitch count up by fouling off 40 of his pitches throughout the night.
“It’s just a mindset,” Greene said on how he stayed focused during the delay. “You’re always thinking that we’re going to play the game. You never want to be caught off-guard. Just being proactive and not reactive in that situation so I’m ready to go.”
Greene lowered his season ERA to 2.53.
Francona badly wanted Greene to get through the sixth inning, but Ruiz fouled off five of his offerings during a 10-pitch at-bat, which began to worry the Reds skipper.
“I was getting madder by the pitch, more anxiety,” Francona said. “He deserved to finish that inning. That was going to be his last hitter.”
The 12 K’s were Greene’s most since he fanned a career-high 14 on Sept. 20, 2023 against the Twins.
It was Greene’s 10th career double-digit strikeout game, matching Johnny Cueto and Joe Nuxhall for sixth-most by a Reds pitcher since the mound moved to its current distance in 1893.
After he fanned Ruiz, Greene pounded his chest and shouted a few choice words to himself as he swaggered off the mound.
“12 K’s against a big league team isn’t easy to do,” Greene said. “To accomplish that on the last pitch and see the ball enter [catcher Jose Trevino]’s glove, I like to get fired up. It was warranted in that situation.”