Hunter Greene discusses his dominant outing against the San Francisco Giants
Hunter Greene went 8.2 innings on Monday at Oracle Park to help down the San Francisco Giants, 2-0.
SAN FRANCISCO − The Cincinnati Reds only needed to drive in three runs over two games to win their series against the San Francisco Giants, and that tells you a great deal about how good the Reds’ pitching has been.
In fact, the Reds pitching staff has statistics to indicate they’re one of the strongest staffs in MLB on the young season.
But pitching alone didn’t get the Reds the series win at San Francisco, mostly because the Giants all but matched Cincinnati pitch-for-pitch except for the three runs − a minuscule sum to separate any two teams.
In a series where both teams pitched effectively over the first two games, the real deciding factor in Cincinnati’s first series win of the year became its defense, and some clutch plays in high-leverage situations.
Not much good has been said or written regarding Cincinnati’s fielding over the last year-plus, and the team still has its defensive deficiencies, but the gloves showed up in a timely way this week.
Two plays stood out in Tuesday’s series-clincher, the 1-0 victory led by starting pitcher Nick Lodolo and reliever Graham Ashcraft, who faced the minimum over two scoreless innings.
In the fifth inning and with a Giants runner on third, Jake Fraley saved a run and kept the Reds on top at 1-0 with his sliding grab on the right field warning track after he ran down a line drive in a full-speed backtrack.
“Shoot, that won us the game,” Lodolo said.
Reds manager Terry Francona agreed, adding, “There were some good things that happened defensively and Fraley’s play was at the top of the list.”
Fraley said the ball was “smoked.”
“He hit it hard. It was right over my head,” Fraley said. “This is probably one of the hardest places to play outfield because of the way the wind swirls here. The ball just does weird stuff. You just never know. Fortunately, it stayed straight on me. I thought that I was a little bit closer to the edge. That’s why I took that last little peak.
“When I realized I had a little bit more of room, I decided I was gonna take a little leap at it, and I was able to have enough room to do it.”
In the eighth, Ashcraft was on for his second inning of work. He was to face the Giants’ Nos. 9, 1 and 2 hitters to start the frame after a one-two-three seventh inning. He started rocky, though, allowing a single to nine-hole hitter Sam Huff.
An Oracle Park crowd of more than 30,000 roared. Any reliever could have come unraveled in that moment, and it wasn’t like Ashcraft, a newly-commissioned high-leverage bullpen piece, had a wealth of experience to draw upon to steady himself.
But Ashcraft stayed calm, inducing a weak grounder up the middle that infielder Gavin Lux fielded with his foot on second base. Lux tossed the ball to Christian Encarnacion-Strand at first to complete a double play. Ashcraft wasn’t able to get a hand on the ball, eliminating the possibility of a deflected ball that would have made matters worse.
Then, Ashcraft struck out Willy Adames and pumped his fist coming off the mound. But the double play ended what would effectively be the Giants’ last, best chance to score as Emilio Pagán set the Giants’ Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters down in order.
“When you’re able to go out there and play your position well, and make catches that you’re not supposed to make, it allows (the pitchers) to be able to take a deep breath and relax a little bit out there,” Fraley said. “That allows them to settle in there quicker. It allows them to execute their pitches better and sharper.”
On Monday, Jacob Hurtubise was the defensive hero after he contorted his body in a sliding effort to reel-in Heliot Ramos’ line drive for the final out of the series-opening 2-0 victory.
“It was a head-high line drive coming at me the whole way,” Hurtubise described of his catch for the 27th out on Monday, which preserved the win for starter Hunter Greene. “I kind of froze initially, trying to read whether or not I needed to stay still or come in. Ultimately, once I saw that read it was full effort to go get it because if that ball drops, we’re playing extra innings.”
None of this is to suggest the Reds are the picture of elite MLB defense. An error by Lux in the sixth inning on Tuesday brought the Reds to eight errors on the season − a sum that’s among the highest in the baseball.
But when the Reds’ elite pitching staff was all but matched by the Giants’ arms, and Cincinnati needed something extra to get it over the hump, the Reds’ clutch defense made the difference.
“In a game like that, if one play’s not made,” Francona said Tuesday before ultimately trailing off.
He didn’t have to complete that thought. For one thing, the conclusion he was going to suggest was obvious. But secondarily, the Reds made the plays they had to.
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source link
