Cincinnati Reds: Hunter Greene talks about no-hit bid versus Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene spoke with local media about his no-hit bid versus Chicago Cubs on Sept. 18 at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won, 1-0.
Given the circumstances and postseason implications, the Cincinnati Reds would have settled for a win of any variety. Ugly, accidental, controversial − the Reds simply wouldn’t have cared what it looked like. They just needed to win.
The victory the Reds ended up with Sept. 18 against the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs accounted for plenty of style points as Opening Day starter Hunter Greene offered up one of the finest games of his career. Greene limited the Cubs to just two base runners through six and 2/3 innings before his no-hit bid was broken up by Chicago’s Seiza Suzuki’s two-out double in the seventh inning.
The Suzuki hit was one of very few blemishes on Greene’s 109-pitch outing as he guided the playoff-hopeful Reds to a 1-0 victory at Great American Ball Park before a crowd of 18,532.
The nine-inning, complete-game shutout victory was the first of Greene’s career (he had previously logged only a rain-shortened complete game), and his 2025 record improved to 7-4. Greene had nine strikeouts and one walk in the game.
“The thing that sticks out is it’s 1-0. If there’s a crack somewhere, we’re either still playing or talking about, ‘well it was a good effort but,'” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “There was no wiggle room. And boy, he pitched.”
Big picture, the victory saw the Reds improve to 77-76. With nine games to play for Cincinnati, it remained 2.0 games back of the New York Mets in the race for the third and final National League wild card berth.
Greene protected a third-inning run plated by Cincinnati. Austin Hays doubled to begin the inning, and Will Benson drove him in when he hammered a double of his own to right-center field.
“Feels great. Feels great,” Greene said. “Just trying to stay present and take it one pitch at a time. ‘Steve-O’ (catcher Tyler Stephenson) did a fantastic job. We were on the same page the entire night. Communication was solid. For the boys to be able to get the one run across and for ‘Beamin’ (Will Benson) to come in the clutch again was awesome.”
Cubs pitcher Colin Rea (10-7) eventually became the hard-luck loser as a result of that run. One day after the Cubs clinched at least a wild card bid in the National League playoff race, Rea went seven innings, allowed just four hits and struck out a career-best 11.
Prior to Suzuki’s hit, the Cubs’ lone base runners reached on an Elly De La Cruz error in the fifth inning and a walk by Greene in the sixth inning.
The Reds also managed to dispense of the Cubs player who reached on the De La Cruz error, too.
A Pete Crow-Armstrong line drive toward the first base area deflected off Reds’ first baseman Spencer Steer’s glove and knocked the helmet off Moisés Ballesteros. Then the ball caromed into center field. There, T.J. Friedl gathered the ball and fired it to second base to catch Ballesteros on the force-out.
Francona said he’d never seen a play like it. In the moment, Greene pointed to second base as he stayed aware of the force-out, but said the play was scary to witness.
“I’m glad it wasn’t a fatal accident or hit to the head,” Greene said.
Greene encountered little resistance after Suzuki’s hit. He retired the final seven batters he faced in order to clinch the game.
The 107th of Greene’s 109 pitches was a fastball that registered 101.5 mph. Two pitches later, he received a called third strike against the Cubs’ Ian Happ to end the contest.
“He’s pretty amped up,” Francona said. “But I will say, he stayed in his delivery. He didn’t start over-throwing. Probably the best pitch for me in the ninth inning was strike one because sometimes they get a little over-amped and he was still commanding. He stayed in his delivery the entire time.”
The Reds and Cubs resume their four-game series Sept. 19 at Great American Ball Park (6:40 p.m.). Cincinnati has three games remaining against the Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers, the current NL Central division leaders who the Cubs are attempting to run down.
The Reds are in must-win territory the rest of the way. Greene’s outing was the kind that could spur Cincinnati to a streak down the stretch, Stephenson said.
“We’ve got, what? Nine left?” Stephenson said. “To have something like this and one hit away, could have been a no-hitter. At this point in the year, just having that extra motivation and spark of energy, it’s huge. Yeah, hopefully it can carry us.”