Hunter Greene's near-flawless Reds Opening Day start vs. Giants spoiled by one at-bat

When spring training began last month, there was little doubt that Hunter Greene was going to be named the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day starter. New Reds manager Terry Francona did just that shortly after the team arrived in Goodyear, and Greene steadily put together a solid spring in preparation for his second Opening Day start in three years.

On Thursday, Greene took the ball against the San Francisco Giants and was flat-out on fire from the outset of the game. The flamethrower enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning in the first that included two punch outs.

Greene allowed just one hit through the first three innings — a single to Giants' right fielder Mike Yastrzemski. Through three, Greene had seven strikeouts and, more importantly, didn't allow a single walk.

Extended at-bat spoils Hunter Greene's near-flawless Opening Day start vs. Giants

But the fourth inning, which started out with a simple fly out to right fielder Jake Fraley, caused Greene a bit of consternation. After getting ahead of Giants centerfielder Jung Hoo Lee, Greene delivered four straight pitches out of the zone and put a free runner aboard.

The next batter, Matt Chapman, popped out to Reds catcher Joe Trevino in foul territory, leaving Heliot Ramos as the lone hitter preventing Greene from getting out of the inning unscathed. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Greene and Ramos had a spirited 11-pitch at-bat, one in which the Giants slugger fouled off five consecutive pitches of 98 mph or more. On the 11th, and final pitch of the AB, Ramos got ahold of another heater from Greene and this time it went over the fence in right field. The next batter, Patrick Bailey, struck out swinging on a slider.

Greene came back out for the fifth, and though it was a little rocky, the Reds hurler got out without allowing any further damage. In all, Greene logged five innings, struck out eight, and allowed just two runs on three hits, but one of those left the yard. He'll want that one back, but otherwise it was a flawless outing for Greene.

The took a 3-2 lead into the ninth, but Fracona's decision to go with Ian Gibaut as the Game 1 close backfired. The Reds lost to the Giants by a final score of 6-4.

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