'Another tough inning': Long second shortens Greene's outing

PHILADELPHIA -- The long and the short of it for Reds pitcher Hunter Greene through two starts has been just that. Twice, it has been one long inning that has led to a short outing.

Greene, who lasted 4 2/3 innings and threw 93 pitches overall, endured a 33-pitch bottom of the second inning, with three straight walks that included one with the bases loaded. The right-hander was a spectator when the bullpen allowed a pair of late home runs during the Reds’ 5-2 loss to the Phillies on Friday at Citizens Bank Park.

"Another tough inning," said Greene, who allowed two runs and five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. "Getting behind a little bit. Obviously, you can’t do that at this level."

The bottom of the first inning gave no indication that Greene would have trouble. While throwing 12 pitches -- including nine strikes -- he struck out the side.

The strike-three pitches were all on high fastballs at 99, 100 and 99 mph.

"Pretty incredible," said catcher Tyler Stephenson, who hit a game-tying RBI double in the sixth inning. "Obviously, we know how great he is and how great he is going to be. It’s fun. I was telling him my [left index] finger is a little sore today. He was throwing hard."

Greene lived heavily on his four-seam fastball and threw it 58 times overall, according to Statcast, while throwing 34 sliders and one changeup. Only 48 percent of the fastballs were in the strike zone. But Philadelphia was willing to chase, with 33 swings and 10 misses.

In the second inning, after Nick Castellanos’ double off a first-pitch slider, Greene threw 24 consecutive fastballs.

"I think [it was] just trying to go up and climb," Greene said. "I definitely could’ve thrown another pitch. We talked about that right when we got into the dugout. I think if I would’ve kept climbing there, I would have been able to get a swing and miss."

Castellanos, who tagged and went to third base on a one-out flyout, appeared to be a distraction with a long lead almost halfway to the plate as Jake Cave batted, as the Reds' defensive alignment put nobody near third base.

At one point, Greene stepped off the rubber to reset, before Cave eventually walked.

"He could still step off and regardless, he’s not going to do it three times for the disengagements [rule]," acting manager Freddie Benavides said. "It’s being able to focus and concentrate on that hitter and not worry about that.”

Greene fell into a 2-0 count to Kody Clemens when Stephenson made a mound visit.

"I think things just kind of sped up a little bit," Stephenson said. "He was pulling some stuff, especially with some of the lefties, missing in, in and up. It was getting back to the basics, slowing it down."

Clemens also walked, bringing pitching coach Derek Johnson to the mound for a visit. Brandon Marsh was the third straight batter to walk, forcing home a run. Trea Turner was in a 2-0 count but swung and flied out to center field to limit the damage.

"I feel like I threw some pretty good fastballs," Greene said. "A couple of them I thought were strikes that didn’t get called. There were some … that weren’t competitive. I wouldn’t say it’s not where I wanted it to be. It wasn’t like some other games I pitched in."

In his Opening Day start on March 30 vs. the Pirates, Greene endured a 32-pitch third inning and was out of the game after 83 pitches and 3 1/3 innings during a 5-4 Cincinnati loss.

Greene needed 23 pitches to get through the third inning against the Phillies and worked a 1-2-3 fourth. He allowed a leadoff single to Turner in the fifth, and Kyle Schwarber's RBI double put the Reds down, 2-1.

"His stuff was really, really electric that first inning," Benavides said. "They were out there hacking. They just happened to make him work. They worked really hard those two innings. It took a lot out of him, but he came back."

Lefty reliever Alex Young got the Reds out of the jam in the fifth and struck out the side in the sixth. After Stephenson's double made it 2-2, J.T. Realmuto's two-run homer off reliever Derek Law put the Phillies ahead for good. Pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa added a leadoff homer in the eighth against Reiver Sanmartin.

"I would’ve loved to have gone deeper into the game and put the team in a better position, but I know that’ll come as I get going," Greene said.