Reds no-hit Pirates, still lose

The Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates today.

Also, the Cincinnati Reds lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates today.

Man, things aren’t going well for the Redlegs in 2022...

Starting for the Reds was 22 year old rookie righthander Hunter Greene, the #2 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. Greene throws really hard but has been hittable in 2022, mixing in some decent outings with some rather bad ones. Most notable in the latter category was his amazing May 5 start against the Brewers, where he went 2.2 IP, struck out seven batters, walked one batter, and allowed eight runs on five home runs, three doubles and a single. That’s a line score that makes your head spin.

Anyway, Greene had his A Game today, and through seven innings, he had allowed just three walks and no hits against the Pirates. However, Greene was also at 103 pitches for the game, the most he’d thrown in a game this season.

Also however, Jose Quintana was matching Greene in regards to the runs column, putting up seven shutout innings himself. Chris Stratton shut the Reds down in the top of the eighth, so Greene went back out for the eighth with the game still tied.

Greene got a 0-1 groundout to lead off the inning, but then walked Rodolfo Castro on a 3-2 pitch. Michael Perez followed that up by working a seven pitch walk, putting batters on first and second with one out. With Greene at 118 pitches, there was no choice but to go to the pen, even with the no hitter going.

Art Warren, one-time Texas Ranger, was brought in by the Reds, and immediately walked Ben Gamel on four pitches. He fell behind Ke’Bryan Hayes 2-1 before Hayes hit a slow chopper to second base that was too softly hit to turn a double play on.

And with that, the Pirates took a 1-0 lead, despite not having a hit all game. Bryan Reynolds popped out for the final out of the eighth. The Reds went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. And history, such as it is, was made.