For how long? Nobody knows.
With the Reds leading 3-0 after the top of the fourth inning, Greene took two warm-up pitches and felt a a grab in his right groin area.
After a gathering of the minds on the mound, Greene left the game.
“After a couple of (warm-up) pitches, I just felt my groin grab, just didn’t feel like I’d be at my best or, honestly, keep the team in it if I continued to throw and stayed in it,” said Greene.
Asked how bad he thought the injury is, he said, “I have no clue, I’m not a doctor, so I have to see what it is tomorrow.”
Greene was a doctor of domination for his three innings after leadoff hitter TJ Friedl gave him a 3-0 lead with home runs in his first two at bats.
Greene’s fastball was an invisible blur to the Braves. Of the nine outs he recorded, six were via strikeouts, four on 100 miles an hour or more fastballs.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
In the first inning he struck out Marcell Ozuna on three pitches, putting him away with a 100 miles an hour four-seamer.
He struck out the side in the second, whiffing Matt Olson at 100 miles and hour and putting away Michael Harris II at 101.
In the third he gave up an infield hit to Eli White and a solid single to Drake Baldwin with no outs. He struck out Nick Allen with a slider, then did away with Alex Verdugo with a 101 miles an hour freight train. His last out was a line drive to center by Austin Riley.
“I feel like I’m very strong in that area (groin),” said Greene, adding that he’s never had a groin injury before. “A lot of us pitchers try to focus on our recovery after we pitch on our upper extremities, as opposed to our lower body. So being strong there sometimes it goes past our focus because we make sure our upper body recovers. That’s my diagnosis on it.”
After the awesome beginning, having to shut it down isn’t easy for a dogged competitor like Greene.
“It’s part of the game,” he said. “Being at the forefront of the rotation, obviously it’s tough... me being super competitive out there. I’ll make sure I put my best foot forward to put myself in the best position to get myself back out there.”
The back end of the bullpen shut it down after the Braves crept to within 4-3 after six.
Friedl led the game with a full-count home run, after falling behind 0-and-2. The ball landed in the Braves bullpen.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Reds scored a second run in the first inning on a ground ball by Gavin Lux that scored Matt McLain from third.
The significance of Friedl’s home run was that it came off Atlanta starter Grant Holmes. He had pitched 102⅓ innings during his career and never gave up a home run to a left-handed hitter.
Just to make certain it was no fluke, Friedl hit another homer off Holmes in the third, once again into the Braves bullpen.
The Reds added a fourth run in the fourth inning on Tyler Stephenson’s single as he recovered from striking out five times during Tuesday’s 2-1 10-inning loss to the Braves.
It was Recover Act Night for the Reds. Closer Emilio Pagan blew a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning Tuesday, but was back on the mound again Wednesday in the ninth inning, once again with a one-run lead (4-3).
A first-batter walk Tuesday did him in and he went to full counts on the first two Braves in the ninth Wednesday. But he struck out Matt Olson on a full count, retired Ozzie Albies on an eighth-pitch fly to left and gave up a single to Michael Taylor II, 2-for-22 at the time.
That put the tying run on base, but Pagan struck out pinch-hitter Eddie Rosario to notch his ninth save on his birthday.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“Not a surprise that Emilio came in and straightened it out,” Greene said of Pagan’s performance. “It’s always fun to watch him go out there and compete and finish the deal for the team.”
After Stephenson’s run-scoring single in the fourth, the Reds managed one hit over the final five innings.
And with the Braves chipping away, clean bullpen help was needed.
And they got it after Brent Suter gave up a solo home run to Drake Baldwin and the Braves scored two runs in the sixth off Scott Barlow and Taylor Rogers that cut the lead to 4-3.
Rookie flame thrower Luiss Mey pitched the seventh and retired the Braves on eight pitches and struck out one. Tony Santillan pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Pagan finished it.
“Luis Mey came in and gave us a huge inning, that was huge,” said Reds manager Tito Francona. “When he pounds the strike zone, I don’t care what league he is in, he is going to be OK.
“He is still developing and we talked about sending him back out for the eighth,” he added. “He didn’t throw a lot of pitches (eight in the seventh), but we can’t forget that we are developing him still.
“You are setting him up for sitting around and thinking about it (the eighth inning), so he had a good inning, let him grow on that.”
Said Greene of the bullpen, “It was a bit of a rough one Tuesday, but they all are fantastic and to see them come through was spectacular.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Atlanta
When: Thursday, May 7, 7:15 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM
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