Cincinnati Reds Ace Hunter Greene Strikes Out First 6 Rockies

There's no better way for a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball to get through the first two innings than striking out all six hitters. 

And that's exactly what Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene did on Thursday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ballpark. 

Greene needed just 16 pitches to strike out the side in the first, setting down Ezequiel Tovar, Brendan Rodgers and Ryan McMahon in order. 

Of those 16 pitches, 10 were fastballs at 96 m.p.h. or higher. That set up his devastating slider, which had the Rockies hitters completely off-balance. 

In the second inning, more of the same from Greene. 

Greene needed one less pitch (15) to strike out the Rockies 4, 5 and 6 hitters – Brenton Doyle, Jake Cave and Michael Toglia – during the second frame. 

The final pitch of the inning, a called strike on Toglia, was a 99 m.p.h. fastball on the inside corner. 

Greene's streak ended when he walked the first batter in the third inning, but later collected his 7th strikeout in the frame. 

Thursday's start was the first for Hunter Greene since he was named an MLB All-Star for the first time in his career. Greene entered the matinée matchup with a 5-4 record, 3.45 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 104.1 innings pitched.

Greene is one of two Reds All-Stars, along with superstar shortstop Elly De La Cruz – who was also selected for the first time in his young career. 

Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene started Thursday afternoon's game against the Colorado Rockies by striking out the first 6 hitters.

(Jeff Dean/Getty Images)

It's good news for the Cincinnati Reds to see two of their young stars – Greene (24) and De La Cruz (22) – named to the National League All-Star team. 

That's a silver lining for Cincinnati in what has been a bit of a disappointing and injury-plagued season for the Reds so far. 

Cincinnati entered Thursday five games under .500. However, the weakness of the National League works in their favor if the team can get healthy and continue to get production from Hunter Greene and Elly De La Cruz. 

Despite the poor record, the Reds are just 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot in the NL – even though they're in last place in the NL Central. 

The Reds are an exciting young team, and it would probably benefit the MLB to have a team like that reach the postseason. But there's a lot of baseball left to play.