Greene looks to 'get back on track' after fastball dips

CINCINNATI -- Reds center fielder TJ Friedl helped his starting pitcher, Hunter Greene, when he robbed the White Sox of a home run with a leaping catch at the fence. However, homers still found a way to inflict maximum damage on Greene on Friday.

Greene blew a pair of leads in a 5-4 Reds loss at Great American Ball Park as Elvis Andrus slugged a three-run homer in the fifth inning and Luis Robert Jr. added a two-run drive in the sixth.

“It’s kind of a weird, frustrating night," Greene said. "I felt like my fastball, even though the velocity was there later on in the game and when I came out, it didn’t have the same jump to it. I feel like my [arm] slot was dropping a little bit.

"Those were the balls that were hit. They obviously put good swings on it. The fastball definitely didn’t have the same life as the first few innings.”

Greene gave up five earned runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

In an odd quirk, Greene threw first-pitch strikes to only eight of the 25 batters he faced. But he was still very effective at throwing strikes overall (64 out of his 102 pitches) and had all seven of his strikeouts through four innings with one hit allowed.

“I feel like I filled up the zone really well," Greene said. "I feel like there were definitely some pitches that should have been strikes that I might not have gotten. I feel like I put myself in good counts throughout the game.”

White Sox starter Lance Lynn was already down by a run when RBI singles by Jake Fraley and Nick Senzel gave Cincinnati a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two on and one out in the top of the fifth, Andrus lifted Greene's 2-2 fastball for his three-run homer to the first row of seats.

"The first three innings [Greene] dominated with his fastball. Good slider," Reds manager David Bell said. "He was really good. The Andrus home run came on a fastball up and in off the plate, just a great swing. After that, Hunter wasn’t as sharp. But early on it was really good."

Jonathan India got the Reds another lead with a one-out solo homer to center field off Lynn in the bottom of the fifth. But Greene couldn't hold it again in the sixth.

A brief reprieve came when Andrew Vaughn led off the top of the sixth with a drive to right-center field. Friedl made a spectacular catch just above the fence to take a homer away from Vaughn.

“There’s a lot of things that have to line up to rob that," Friedl said. "I got a good bead off the bat. I peeked at the wall as I got closer. When I looked back up, I was a little more too lined [up] left than I thought. I had to make a couple of steps over there. I just timed the jump up. A lot of things have to come together for that but it was pretty cool.”

Eloy Jiménez followed with a single to left field, and two batters later, Robert clobbered a 3-1 fastball for the two-run homer to right-center field that gave the White Sox the game.

"Our guys were having trouble seeing the ball early in the game," White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. "I think the background there with the sun hitting it, they were having trouble seeing it. Once they got a second time around, third time around, that became a pretty good background to hit in. But that doesn’t say anything against Hunter Greene’s stuff. His stuff is electric. He’s one of the best young pitchers in the game."

Allowing home runs was an issue for Greene during the first half of his 2022 rookie season, when he gave up 23 before the All-Star break. Entering Friday, he had surrendered only one, and that was during his Opening Day start vs. the Pirates.

Through seven starts, Greene is 0-2 with a 3.74 ERA. He wasn't concerned about his fastball lacking life in the latter half of this outing. It averaged 98.8 mph, according to Statcast, just down a tick from his season average of 98.9.

“Every pitcher deals with it," Greene said. "It’s tough being a starting pitcher trying to go 6-7 innings and every fastball be the best fastball you’ve ever thrown. That’s just not going to happen. I think it’s important to recognize that, be able to check yourself mechanically on whatever those cues are for yourself and try to get back on track as soon as possible.”