Hunter Greene dazzled in a crucial game for the Cincinnati Reds Sunday, allowing just a run and a hit while striking out 12 over seven innings in a 3-2 victory over the visiting New York Mets.

Greene, who missed more than two months of the season because of a groin injury, pitched seven innings for the first time since April. He also matched his season high in strikeouts and yielded a season low in hits as the Reds (72-71) took the rubber match of the weekend series.

Austin Hays drove in two for the Reds, while the Mets (76-67) got home runs from Brett Baty and Juan Soto.

Cincinnati needed Greene’s performance because Mets starter Brandon Sproat (0-1) no-hit the Reds through the first 5 1/3 innings of his big-league debut. They finally got to Sproat, though, scoring twice in the sixth inning to take the lead.

With the game tied at 1, Noelvi Marte singled off Sproat in the sixth and scored on a double by Elly De La Cruz. Hays followed with an RBI single.

Hays’ hit was crucial after Soto hit a solo home run off Tony Santillan with one out in the ninth. Pete Alonso reached on a De La Cruz error, and Brandon Nimmo singled. Santillan, though, got Starling Marte to ground into a double play started by De La Cruz to end it.

Greene (6-4) started in dominant fashion, striking out six of the first seven he faced. However, Baty took the first pitch he saw from Greene and sent it 381 feet into the netting over the visitors’ bullpen to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the third.

Cincinnati equalized in the fourth inning without a hit. Marte walked to start the inning and stole second. After moving to third on a De La Cruz groundout, Marte scored on Hays’ sacrifice fly to center.

With the win, Cincinnati also claimed the season series with the Mets, 4-2. The Mets, though, still hold the final National League wild-card spot, with the Reds now four games back.

–Field Level Media