Reds Rapid Reactions From the Reds' 6-4 Mashfest Win

The Cincinnati Reds (53-57) are treading water in the NL Wild Card race and a win over the San Francisco Giants could go a long way. They're back to within one game of the Giants with the rubber match looming. On Saturday, the Reds' bats finally heated up and they ended up providing fans with a few souvenirs.

1. Hunter Greene , Pitcher

When the Reds' ace struggles, "fans" come out of the woodwork to proclaim Hunter Greene a "thrower" and not a "pitcher." Undertones aside, the critique has always been asinine. There are areas of Greene's game that still need work - namely, his pitch efficiency and not running into 100 pitches after six innings - but on this night, he continued his red-hot stretch.

For the first time since 1938 ( Johnny Vander Meer ), a Reds pitcher logged six straight starts with one or fewer runs allowed. Greene's final line on the night: six innings, one hit, one walk, no runs, 11 strikeouts. Ace.

Wherever you have Greene on your Cy Young odds, it's too low. The simple fact is over his last five starts, he has allowed a single run over 33 innings. That's a 0.27 ERA. Extend it back one more start and he has allowed two runs over 37 2/3 innings (0.48 ERA).

Ideally, Greene could be a bit more efficient and not log 20-pitch innings, but, again, on this day, he was lights out. The Giants had no answer.

2. Hits? Run Support??

The Reds lineup did what it so often has done: mash. Unfortunately, the mashing has been too few and far between, as evidenced by last night. The Tyler Stephenson home run in the second snapped an 11-inning hitless streak by the lineup.

On the night, the Reds hit four home runs spanning the second, third, and fourth innings. Stephenson mashed two, Jonathan India found the second deck, and Stuart Fairchild even got in on the fun.

This was Greene's 22nd start. The 6-0 lead the offense built behind him was the second-largest lead Greene has left a game with this year. It was the 10th time leaving with the lead and the Reds have won eight of such games.

India continued getting on base, this time he logged two hits and drew a walk. Stephenson had his two hits, and new Reds clean-up hitter Ty France managed one hit and reached on an error. In addition to his home run, Fairchild also drew a walk.

3. Not a Banner Day From the Bullpen

When Greene left the game, the Giants had no runs and just one hit. Between Justin Wilson , Tony Santillan , and Alexis Dias' three innings, they allowed four runs off of four hits. All three gave up at least one home run, oddly enough.

It was a good thing the offense decided to give Green six early runs of support because, over the final three innings, they managed just one hit, one reach on an error, and a walk for no runs.

For a while, the Reds bullpen was a strength. Since the Tampa Bay Rays series, not so much.

Either way, the Reds and Giants have the rubber match tomorrow, nationally televised on the Roku Channel (it's free, don't worry).