CINCINNATI (AP) — Hunter Greene allowed a bunt single to begin the game and then faced the minimum through seven innings, retiring his final 20 batters as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-0 in a rain-shortened game Monday night.
“That may be the best I’ve seen him pitch,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It was just a great mix of pitches. It makes for an uncomfortable at-bat when he locates his pitches. He got a lot of fly balls. He just set up his pitches really well.”
Brandon Drury hit his 10th homer of the season. Kyle Farmer and Tyler Stephenson each had a two-run double.
The start was delayed 13 minutes due to showers, then a larger line of storms moved in and halted play with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. After another 46-minute delay, the game was called.
The second overall pick in the 2017 draft, Greene (3-7) yielded a bunt single down the third base line by Daulton Varsho to begin the game. Varsho was caught stealing to complete a double play after Josh Varsho struck out.
The 22-year-old Greene never permitted another baserunner.
Greene pitched 7.1 hitless innings on May 15 but was removed after 103 pitches and the Reds lost 1-0. This time, he needed only 87 pitches to get through seven innings.
“I kept it real simple,” Greene said. “Some of my past starts, I tried to do a little too much on a pitch. Tonight I just said, ‘Here it is.’ The pitches seemed to be where they needed to be. I throw too hard for them to have a comfortable at-bat.”
The touted rookie finished with eight strikeouts and no walks in the first one-hit complete game for the Reds since Luis Castillo pitched one at St. Louis on Sept. 11, 2020.
“He was at the top of the zone and we got into a little bit of a wrestling match up there,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “You have to cheat to catch that velocity. He made good adjustments and was burying some breaking balls down in the zone. You have to tip your cap.”
The last complete-game shutout of fewer than nine innings for a Reds pitcher was by Trevor Bauer in a scheduled seven-inning game on Aug. 19, 2020, at Kansas City.
Bronson Arroyo had the last rain-shortened complete game for Cincinnati on July 1, 2013, against the Giants in a game called after six innings.
Drury hit a solo home run in the first. He had a team-leading five homers in May.
Madison Bumgarner (2-5) threw 30 pitches in the first inning, but the Reds managed just one run and left the bases loaded. The veteran left-hander needed 108 pitches to get through five.
Despite throwing 53 pitches, Bumgarner allowed only two runs through the first two innings — one on Nick Senzel’s RBI single. Bumgarner gave up four runs and eight hits in all.
“I didn’t feel like I done good giving up only the two runs,” Bumgarner said. “In this particular case, I felt like I was giving up runs I shouldn’t have given up.”
Bumgarner had words with plate umpire Dan Merzel on a few occasions during his outing.
“It’s frustrating when you throw balls that are all over the plate, they don’t call ’em. Then you throw one that’s two inches off the plate, and they do call ’em,” Bumgarner said. “It’s not that hard.”
The Reds added three runs off Taylor Widener in the seventh before the game was called. Albert Almora Jr. had an RBI single after Stephenson’s two-run double.
Joey Votto’s double in the first was his 800th career extra-base hit.
TARP ON, TARP OFF
The rain came down so heavy and quick in the seventh that it pooled on the tarp, preventing the grounds crew from pulling it over the baselines and the third base portion of the infield, which became saturated before auxiliary tarps could be brought in.
TRAINER’S ROOM
D-backs catcher Carson Kelly (left oblique strain) had the day off but is expected to continue his rehab stint at Triple-A Reno on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks LHP Tyler Gilbert makes his fourth appearance and third start of the season Tuesday.
Reds rookie RHP Graham Ashcraft makes his fourth major league start. He won two of the first three, including a stretch of 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.