CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene had thrown 93 pitches and given up just one hit through eight innings Thursday night. He wanted the ball in the ninth and manager Terry Francona wasn’t going to deny him this time.
Greene got the final three outs for his first career complete game shutout as the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 to keep pace with the New York Mets for the third NL wild-card spot.
On April 7 at San Francisco, Greene retired the first two batters in the ninth with the Reds leading 2-0. After he allowed a single and a walk, Francona brought on Tony Santillan to get the final out. Greene finished with 104 pitches.
“San Francisco flashed kind of through my mind,” Greene said. “I was telling myself, ‘This is my game’. I told (manager Terry Francona) that next game that I pitched deep into that situation, I wanted to finish it.”
Francona didn’t budge from his dugout chair on Thursday night.
“I didn’t want to try,” the Reds skipper said. “We didn’t even have anyone throwing in the bullpen.”
Greene’s 107th pitch of the night registered 101.5 mph for strike two to Ian Happ, who fanned on five pitches for the final out. Greene had nine strikeouts and one walk. He threw 109 pitches.
Greene retired the first 12 batters until Moises Ballesteros reached on a fielding error to begin the fifth. He didn’t allow a hit until Seiya Suzuki’s two-out double in the seventh.
“The thing that sticks out is that it was 1-0,” Francona said. “There was no wiggle room. Coming off the other day in Sacramento, to back that up the way he did was really impressive.”
In Greene’s last outing on Saturday against the A’s, he allowed five runs and two home runs and pitched a season-low 2 1/3 innings. With the Reds trying to remain in the playoff chase, Greene responded.
“The last game doesn’t define me,” he said. “There are a lot of ups and downs in this sport. I’ve been able to overcome a lot of those over the years.”
Cubs starter Colin Rea matched Greene early but allowed a leadoff double by Austin Hays in the fourth. Hays scored on Will Benson’s double to drive in the game’s only run. Rea had a career-high 11 strikeouts, but it was Greene’s night.
“We were kind of going back and forth and we were having quick innings,” Rea said. “He’s elite. We know how good he is. He threw his hardest pitch in the ninth inning. That’s special.”
The Cubs clinched a postseason berth with an 8-4 victory in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and popped Champagne in the clubhouse afterward. The celebration continued when they arrived in Cincinnati later that night, according to manager Craig Counsell. Facing Greene proved to be a tall order.
“We scratched one run and you hear the music,” Francona said. “And that’s a good ballclub with a good lineup.”
This story has been corrected to show that Seiya Suzuki got the Cubs' first hit in the seventh inning. A previous version stated it was Moises Ballesteros.
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Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene (21) delivers a pitch in the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Michael Swensen)
CAIRO (AP) — Pakistan’s interior minister was in Tehran on Sunday in a fresh bid to restart negotiations between Iran and the U.S., as the American military said it shot down two more Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz that threatened international maritime traffic.
The latest action came as the U.S. administration presses Iran to make a deal to end the war in the Middle East, which has strained the global economy and threatened a hunger crisis in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.
The heaviest fighting ended with a preliminary ceasefire on April 8, but the sides have not been able to agree on a long-term end to the war.
Fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah continued, meanwhile, despite last week's announcement that a U.S.-brokered ceasefire had been extended.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is in Tehran to deliver a message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei from Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to Iranian state-run IRNA news agency.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was named the Islamic Republic’s ruler after his father was killed on the first day of the war on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel lauched a bombardment campaign against Iran.
Naqvi met with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni late Saturday, and held talks Sunday morning with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to official Iranian media.
There were no details on the contents of the message. Pakistani authorities have said Islamabad, with support from regional countries including Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, has been working to help bridge differences between the United States and Iran and encourage efforts aimed at reducing tensions and ensuring the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the new ceasefire in Lebanon, which was announced during U.S-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington last week, did not appear to be holding.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has rejected the U.S.-brokered deal and instead endorsed Iran’s demand that ending the war in Lebanon be part of the negotiations with the U.S.
Israel struck what it said were over 150 Hezbollah military sites over the weekend, including rocket launchers and command centers, across southern Lebanon.
Early Sunday, Israel identified at least five projectiles launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel, which were intercepted or fell in open areas. Hezbollah did not immediately claim to have fired projectiles at Israel. However, the militant group acknowledged it attacked Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the Israeli military said.
The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south in its latest ground invasion, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas. Its closure has jolted the world economy.
Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until he considers Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.
Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolphe Haikal, headed to Pakistan Saturday at the invitation of Pakistan’s army chief. The Lebanese army gave no further details and did not say whether it is related to Pakistan’s mediation between Iran and the U.S.
The U.S. military said Saturday that it had shot down several Iranian missiles and drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf Arab allies, and struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response.
“The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” U.S. Central Command said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the Ali Al Salem air base, which hosts U.S. forces in Kuwait, and the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The U.S. military said there were no reports of harm to U.S. personnel.
Earlier in the month, Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal at Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person and wounding dozens.
The U.S. military has kept up its blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s grip on the strait, a crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments.
Energy prices have spiked, posing political problems for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of midterm congressional elections in November.
Chehayeb reported from Beirut and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.
A man walks past anti-U.S. graffiti painted on the wall of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk under a banner showing portraits of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
