Inside the wild eighth inning where the Reds kept the no-hitter but lost the game

PITTSBURGH –– As Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene sat in the dugout during the top of the eighth inning on Sunday, Greene felt like one of the Reds’ coaches was about to come over and talk to him.

Greene had pitched seven no-hit innings, and the unwritten rule in baseball is that you don’t talk to the pitcher throwing a no-hitter. But Greene was also at 103 pitches, which was already the most he had thrown in 2022.

Greene thought that Reds manager David Bell or pitching coach Derek Johnson might have asked him how he was feeling. But no one talked to Greene.

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“(There’s) the mental part of like, ‘I’m fine. I’m not tired,’” Greene said. “It’s just continuing to lock myself in between those innings and keeping my mindset there. It was definitely a thought that came in, but you have to flush that out and continue to stay locked in to go out there again.”

Greene pitched 7 ⅓ innings in the Reds’ 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Greene and Reds reliever Art Warren didn’t allow a hit, but the Reds lost the game due to three walks and a fielder’s choice in the decisive eighth inning.

Hunter Greene starts the Reds eighth inning

When Greene went out to the mound at the start of the eighth inning, he was trying not to focus on how many pitches he had thrown. He wanted to keep his attention on each at-bat without weighing the potential of throwing a no-hitter in his seventh career start.

Greene started the bottom of the eighth inning by getting Pirates right fielder Jack Suwinski to ground out on the second pitch of the at-bat. At that point, Greene was up to 105 pitches.

No one was warming up in the Reds bullpen, and Bell said he wasn’t yet considering taking Greene out of the game.

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“He actually made it pretty easy,” Bell said. “I'm obviously aware of the fact he hadn't given up a hit. I mean, there's obviously no question about that. For me, it was easy to send him back out for the eighth because of how he got there. Because of how he was pitching.”

Then, Greene faced Pirates shortstop Rodolfo Castro and started the at-bat by getting Castro to swing-and-miss at a slider below his knees. After that, Greene threw a fastball that was too far to the right side of the plate. Then he threw two sliders that were too low.

Greene walked Castro on six pitches, and Greene had multiple factors that he was weighing on the mound. He had the potential for a no-hitter in front of him, but it was also a tie game at 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“I also didn’t want my mind to go there, because I wanted to stay locked in and not think about myself coming out of the game,” Greene said. “I wanted to keep going out there. The mental part and dealing with the game like this, I think, is really hard. It’s a challenge.”

The Reds still had no one warming up in the bullpen. Greene was at 111 pitches, but Bell saw a way for Greene to get out of the eighth inning.

“He was in control,” Bell said. “Looking at it now, I think it would have had to have gone really easy for him to go back out for the ninth. There was a chance he could've done it.”

Up next, Greene faced Pirates catcher Michael Perez. Greene tried to use his slider to get out of the inning. It was his best pitch all day, and the slider had worked because Greene was consistently getting swings and misses on sliders in the strike zone.

Against Perez, Greene’s first two sliders weren’t close to the strike zone. Greene admitted he was running out of gas, and Reds catcher Aramis Garcia noticed the same thing behind the plate.

“You definitely saw him labor a little bit. It was a situation where you want to just let him roll, but it’s a 22-year-old kid in a game like this,” Garcia said. “I don’t know if he’s ever thrown this many pitches. You could see the slider just wasn’t quite getting there anymore. I’m so proud of him.”

As Greene fell behind against Perez, Reds reliever Art Warren started warming up in the Reds bullpen. Perez battled and fouled off three pitches to make it a seven-pitch at-bat. The seventh pitch was a slider that stayed above the strike zone on the left side of the plate.

After making the pitch, Greene stretched his shoulder. Bell went right onto the field and pulled Greene from the game. Warren, who has been one of the Reds’ best relievers this season, entered from the bullpen.

Art Warren enters for the Reds in the eighth inning

With reliever Lucas Sims on the injured list, Warren has the most experience in high-leverage situations for the Reds this season. His slider has become one of the best pitches on the team, and Bell has consistently trusted Warren entering close games with runners on base.

“I’ll put Art Warren in that situation 101 out of 100 times,” Reds right fielder Tyler Naquin said. “He has great stuff.”

Warren’s first pitch was a slider to Pirates left fielder Ben Gamel that stayed at eye level. He followed that pitch with a fastball and two more sliders that weren’t close to the strike zone. Warren loaded the bases with the walk, and pressure continued to build in the 0-0 game.

“It was a close game, a one-run ballgame,” Warren said. “You want to win those, especially a no-hitter. Hunter threw the ball great, it's just one of those things where it's baseball, you know?”

Next up, Warren faced Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who’s one of the best young hitters in baseball. With the bases loaded and one out in the inning, Warren was trying to get Hayes to hit a ground ball that could turn into an inning-ending double play.

Warren threw four pitches on the top-left side of the strike zone, looking to get Hayes to roll over a pitch. Warren threw a perfect fourth-pitch fastball, and Hayes hit a weak ground ball to Reds second baseman Alejo Lopez. The Reds had their chance to turn two and end the inning.

At the start of the at-bat, Lopez recognized that the Pirates had a fast runner on first and a fast runner at the plate. He knew he’d have to make a quick decision between throwing the ball home for the force out at the plate or trying to turn a traditional 4-6-3 double play instead.

Hayes hit a chopper right to Lopez, who hesitated and bobbled the ball. Lopez got the forceout at second, but there wasn’t enough time to turn the double play. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead as the runner scored from third.

“It’s decisions you’ve got to make in the moment, and I had to stay back and try for the double play,” Lopez said. “Obviously the guy hitting is also a good runner. That’s why it’s important to have those guys in the lineup. Sometimes you win games without getting too many hits. There were just two good runners.”

Warren ended the eighth inning with a strikeout, stranding two runners on base. The Reds got one final chance in the top of the ninth, but their lineup wasn’t at full strength.

Injuries to Joey Votto, Jonathan India hurt the offense in the ninth

On Sunday, the Reds had Jonathan India, Joey Votto and Nick Senzel on the injured list. Tyler Stephenson got the day off after he had been in concussion protocol, and Kyle Farmer was out with general soreness.

The Reds went down in order in the ninth. TJ Friedl pinch-hit for Albert Almora Jr. with two outs in the inning, and Friedl grounded out to second base.

As a result, the Reds lost a game where they didn’t allow a single hit.

“This team has been through a lot,” Bell said. “We just have to use it as motivation. It's one game. Continue to find ways to get better each day. Continue to find ways to stay together, which this team has in an unbelievable way. So, yeah, it's disappointing, but at the same time we've clawed our way back to a position where we believe in what we're doing and we just have to keep going.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds lose no hitter: How the Pirates won