Hunter Greene pitches 7 crisp innings as the Reds blank the Pirates 4-0

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Hunter Greene pitched seven sparkling innings, and the Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 4-0 victory on Sunday.

Greene (2-1) allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked one. The 6-foot-5 right-hander extended his scoreless streak to 18 2/3 innings.

Reds pitchers retired their final 23 batters.

Santiago Espinal hit a two-run single against Carmen Mlodzinski (1-2) in the third. Elly De La Cruz added an RBI single in Cincinnati's two-run fifth.

Mlodzinski allowed five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa tripled for Pittsburgh with one out in the second. But Greene struck out Tsung-Che Cheng and Espinal made a leaping grab of Henry Davis's hard liner to second.

Greene's career-long scoreless streak is 24 innings from July 11 to August 8, 2024. It's the longest scoreless innings streak by a Reds starter since 1989.

Pirates ace Paul Skenes (1-1, 3.44 ERA) starts Monday against the Nationals at PNC Park. Cincinnati's Nick Lodolo (2-1, 0.96 ERA) takes the mound on Tuesday against the Mariners at Great American Ball Park.

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