Hunter Greene came within one out of his first career shutout, Blake Dunn ended a scoreless deadlock with a two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds ended the host San Francisco Giants’ seven-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory in the opener of a three-game series Monday night.
Greene (1-1), who had never previously pitched more than 7 1/3 innings in his career, allowed just three hits and no walks until Jung Hoo Lee singled with two outs in the ninth and Matt Chapman followed with a full-count walk.
Reds manager Terry Francona pulled his right-hander at that point, then watched Tony Santillan serve up a line drive to Heliot Ramos that left fielder Jacob Hurtubise caught while diving forward to end the game.
The combined shutout was the fourth of Greene’s career. He struck out seven.
The Giants had two early opportunities to score against Greene, once following a two-out double by Mike Yastrzemski in the second and again after a two-out steal of second by Tyler Fitzgerald in the third. But Greene got the next man out on both occasions.
Logan Webb matched Greene zero for zero until getting pulled after seven innings, and the Reds wasted no time taking advantage.
Camilo Doval (1-1) walked the first batter he faced, Spencer Steer, and then hit Hurtubise. After a sacrifice bunt by Jose Trevino, Erik Miller came on and walked TJ Friedl to load the bases, setting the stage for the first two-run hit of Dunn’s two-year career.
Webb allowed just four hits, all singles. He struck out 10 without issuing a walk.
The closest the Reds came to scoring against Webb came in the second, when singles by Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Steer put runners at the corners with one out. But Webb struck out Hurtubise and Jeimer Candelario, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice, was nailed at the plate on a delayed steal attempt.
Webb then retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced before leaving the game after throwing 97 pitches.
The doubles by Dunn and Yastrzemski were the only extra-base hits of the game. The Reds outhit the Giants 5-4.
