Hunter Greene leads Louisville to 3-0 shutout over St. Paul

Hunter Greene answered Louisville’s need for a clean, controlled start with one of the most efficient outings of the Bats’ season, working 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a 3-0 shutout of the St. Paul Saints at Louisville Slugger Field. Greene allowed one hit, walked none and struck out four on 82 pitches, 54 for strikes, while retiring his final 16 batters in order.

Greene needed only 10 pitches to erase St. Paul in the first inning, then kept the game in hand long enough for Louisville to break through late. Cincinnati needed pitching help and Greene was trending toward activation. Greene’s three rehab appearances produced 14 1/3 scoreless innings.

St. Paul starter Kendry Rojas made it a duel early, too, holding Louisville to one hit and three strikeouts over three scoreless innings. The Saints, who entered the day 45-34, kept it tight into the middle innings, but the Bats found their timing once the game reached the sixth. Louisville, which came in at 41-37 after a rain-shaken series that had already included postponed second games on June 25 and June 26, finally cracked through when Ryan Gallagher hit Will Banfield with the bases loaded to force in the first run.

That opened the door for a steadier finish in the seventh. Garrett Hampson started the inning with a single, a wild pitch moved the pressure, Francisco Urbaez punched an RBI single and Héctor Rodríguez followed with an RBI double to push the lead to 3-0. Louisville finished with eight hits, while St. Paul managed only two and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

The shutout also marked a rarity for the Saints, who were blanked for the first time in 56 games.