The Reds salvage a win following Hunter Greene's injury

ATLANTA — One of the biggest responsibilities of being an ace is that on days like Wednesday, you have to deliver and pick up the whole team. The Reds entered this game on a demoralizing four-game losing streak, and Hunter Greene hit the ground rolling with three dominant innings.

Then, completely out of the blue, his right groin grabbed at him. He became the fifth Red this week to suffer an injury.

It felt like a fire alarm moment for the 2025 Reds.

“Even if we didn’t have any (other) injuries, seeing Hunter leave the game, you probably have that thought,” Emilio Pagán said. “He’s just so good.”

The Reds’ bullpen was already badly taxed coming off of a rain-swamped homestand that included inconsistent starting pitching. The Reds badly needed a win on Wednesday, and they’d have to get it with six innings from a worn out bullpen.

The Reds held on to a 4-3 victory, and the bullpen delivered.

“We were up against it,” Pagán said.

The part of Wednesday’s game that carries the most long-term ramification will be Greene’s injury.

“We’re going to get him looked at in the morning, and we’ll know a heck of a lot more,” Terry Francona said. “I don’t think anything happening to him is a good thing. I don’t think it’s bad.”

Greene also struck a positive tone.

“I’m looking forward to going out in this next week or so or however long it takes to get back on the mound,” Greene said. “I’m going to put my best foot forward and making sure I’m putting myself in the best position when I get back out there. Hopefully I don’t have to miss any starts. I don’t know what the future holds. I’ll have to see the MRI tomorrow.”

We won’t know the significance of the injury until he gets his MRI. It’s worth noting that Wade Miley, Nick Lodolo and Sonny Gray are examples of pitchers to suffer groin injuries over the last few Reds’ seasons, and they each missed about two weeks. Going down that hypothetical, because the Reds have two upcoming off days, they’d only need one theoretical spot start over that two-week span (next Saturday vs. Cleveland).

While thoughts might have drifted toward worst case scenarios as Greene left the field in the fourth inning, reliever Brent Suter entered the game.

“Suter B, it feels like he’s better when we need him in those spots,” Pagán said. “We joke about it all the time. If it feels like we absolutely have to have him go extras, he turns into like prime Randy Johnson.”

Suter allowed one run in two innings and picked up the win. He has a 2.55 ERA in 2025, and he has saved the bullpen in countless games this year.

The Reds had a 4-0 lead when Greene exited the game. Suter allowed one run, and then Scott Barlow and Taylor Rogers combined to allow two more. All of a sudden, it was a one-run game for a Reds team with a bullpen that wasn’t at full strength from a rest standpoint.

Luis Mey entered the game in the seventh inning for the first high-leverage opportunity of his career. He held onto the Reds’ 4-3 lead and overwhelmed the bottom of the Braves’ lineup.

“When he pounds the strike zone,” Francona said, “I don’t care what league he’s in. He’s going to be ok. He’s still developing. That’s a part of why… we talked about sending him back out for the eighth. He didn’t throw a lot of pitches. But we can’t forget that we’re developing him still.”

Tony Santillan got the eighth inning and faced the top of the Braves’ lineup. Pitchers who throw two innings on the prior day are typically unavailable the next night, but Santillan stepped up anyway and delivered another scoreless inning. He’s the most underrated Reds’ player.

Pagán then picked up the save in the ninth.

“The bullpen has been doing this all year,” TJ Friedl said. “It’s nothing new, but we’ve got a lot of respect for it.”

Friedl provided most of the firepower at the plate on a two-homer night.

Heading into Wednesday, the Reds had scored two total runs over their previous three games. Friedl’s leadoff homer set the tone for a two-run first inning on Wednesday.

“Bouncing back is what you have to do in a long season,” Friedl said. “For me in my role leading off, I was just trying to put together a good at-bat, maybe put the barrel on the ball and get on base to start the inning. To start it off that way, you can’t get any better.”

There’s a lot still in flux for this Reds’ team, including the statuses of Greene and Jake Fraley (calf).

Noelvi Marte (oblique) and Tyler Callihan (forearm) will miss a good chunk of time. Austin Hays (hamstring) is on the IL but could return on Friday. Christian Encarnacion-Strand (back) and Jeimer Candelario (back) haven’t resumed baseball activities. Wade Miley (elbow) and Rhett Lowder (elbow) are both on rehab assignments but will need some time.

Those are problems for tomorrow. On Wednesday night, the Reds survived Greene’s injury, salvaged a win and got back to .500.