CINCINNATI — Hunter Greene was well aware of the importance of Sunday’s game against the Mets, but in terms of his expectations for his own performance, this was just another game.
Greene tied a season high with 12 strikeouts in seven innings and allowed only a solo homer by Brett Baty as the Reds beat the Mets, 3-2, on Sunday at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds responded from a tough loss on Friday to take two of three from the Mets and get within four games of the final NL Wild Card spot.
“My expectation is to do what I did today,” Greene said. “It’s what is expected for me. I’m just glad I was able to do my job.”
Mets rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat held the Reds hitless through five innings in his Major League debut, but the Reds were able to manufacture runs.
Austin Hays had two RBIs, a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a single in the sixth. Elly De La Cruz doubled in a run in the sixth. Noelvi Marte went 1-for-3 with a walk and scored twice.
“Every win is big for us,” De La Cruz said. “We come here every day with the same approach, same mentality. We’re still alive.”
“Just trying to be a man of the people and get some pizza,” Greene said, referring to a promotion where fans get a voucher for a free pizza when a Reds pitcher fans 12 or more.
The Mets threatened in the 9th with the Reds leading 3-1.
Tony Santillan allowed a one-out solo homer to Juan Soto. Pete Alonso reached on a throwing error by De La Cruz. But Santillan was able to get Starling Marte to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to secure his 5th save.
Manager Terry Francona said he was glad the ball found De La Cruz again after the error.
“That’s the way you hope things work out,” Francona said.
Greene struck out six of the first seven batters he faced. With one out in the third, Baty launched Greene’s first pitch onto the netting above the visitors’ bullpen in right to put the Mets ahead, 1-0.
Greene rolled through four innings on 56 pitches with eight K’s.
“When you strike out that many to get you that deep in the game, he pounded the zone,” Francona said. “Had a really good fastball, really good breaking ball and good split. The home run looked like a get-me-over slider. Other than that, he was really good.”
Sproat, a 24-year-old right-hander, struck out four and only allowed one ball to leave the infield the first time through the order.
“We had some chances against him,” Francona said. “He had a nice fastball with some movement, and he spun it off of that. We got deep counts. He’d walk somebody and then make a pretty good pitch. He actually had some pretty good stuff.”
The Reds tied the score at 1 in the fourth without the benefit of a hit. Marte walked, stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball and then scored on Hays’ sacrifice fly.
The Reds’ first hit came with one out in the sixth when Marte dumped a single into right field. De La Cruz drove in Marte with a double to give the Reds a 2-1 lead. Hays singled to left and De La Cruz jogged home with the Reds’ third run.
Between his innings, Sproat took time to admire Greene’s body of work.
“His career has been super impressive,” Sproat said. “His ability today to fill up the strike zone with pretty much whatever he wanted to throw, really cool to watch.”
Taking two of three in the series doesn’t move the needle much for the Reds in the NL Wild Card race, but it does ensure the Reds remain a participant. The Reds won the season series from the Mets, 4-2.
“Sometimes the game doesn’t end the way we wanted it to, and we’ve been through a really rough stretch,” Francona said. “We’re still alive. Until they make you go home, keep playing.”
