David Bell's decision to leave Hunter Greene in the game backfired, but it was the right call

Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene pitched, perhaps, his best of the game on Friday night against the New York Mets. Well, until he served up the game-tying home run to Mets' star first baseman Pete Alonso.

After Spencer Steer blasted his 22nd home run of the season giving the Reds a 3-0 lead, Greene headed back out to the mound for the bottom of the sixth inning. With two on and two outs, Reds manager David Bell strolled out to the mound to chat with his starter.

After a brief conversation, Bell made the decision to leave Greene in the game to face Alonso. The results were not what Bell or Greene were hoping for. The Reds right-hander delivered a 1-1 fastball right down the heart of the plate and Alonso launched it 425 feet.

Reds manager David Bell made the right decision to leave Hunter Greene in the game regardless of the results.

The three-run blast tied the game, and were it not for Jonathan India's go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the seventh, the Cincinnati Reds may not be tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final NL Wild Card spot at the moment.

And while this is a results oriented business, David Bell made the right call to leave Hunter Greene in the ball game. This will act as a confidence booster for Greene, and quite frankly, the entire team.

Now there will be those who criticize the decision and say that Bell should have pulled Greene. But had Bell turned to Lucas Sims in that moment and the Reds reliever served up the game-tying home run, those same critics would be screaming about how silly it was to pull Greene from the game.

Managers don't make moves that they think won't work. But sometimes, no matter how good the player has been and no matter what the numbers say, the move backfires. That's baseball!

This was a statement of trust on the part of David Bell, but a failure on the part of Hunter Greene to execute. It will undoubtedly give Bell cause to pause the next time such a situation arises, but let's not act as though Bell was wrong to leave Greene in the game.