Dragons' Greene earns first pro victory

Hunter Greene was unhittable until his final inning on the mound Sunday. His offense was just the opposite and those two elements combined to give Cincinnati's No. 2 prospect his first professional win.
Greene matched a career high with eight strikeouts over five innings, allowing just one run on two hits, and Class A Dayton erupted for eight runs between the first and second innings on the way to an 11-8 win over Lansing.

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It took a while for Greene to warm up this season, but the second pick in the last year's Draft has been on a steady roll since then. Baseball's No. 20 overall prospect allowed just two baserunners in his first four innings after walking Chavez Young in the first inning and plunking Samad Taylor with a pitch in the second -- while ringing up six strikeouts.
Greene's only mistake came in the fifth when Taylor led off the frame with a homer to left-center field. After Norberto Obeso followed with a single to center, the 18-year-old struck out Andres Sotillo and Reggie Pruitt then induced Young to ground to first base.

The right-hander matched a career high with five innings and threw 46 of his 77 pitches for strikes, the second-highest pitch count of his season. Greene hasn't allowed more than one run in four of his last five starts, going into or through the fifth in three straight appearances. Heading into his sixth start of the year on May 12, Greene was 0-2 with a 13.97 ERA. Since then, he's gone 1-1 with a 2.91 ERA in five outings, allowing seven runs while striking out 26 and walking five over 21 2/3 innings.

Dayton's lineup crushed early in support of its starter. Cincinnati's No. 6 prospect Jeter Downs doubled to lead off the first before Andy Sugilio and Michael Beltre belted back-to-back homers. The Dragons added five runs in the second highlighted by a two-run homer by 10th-ranked Reds prospect Stuart Fairchild.
Lansing scored seven unanswered runs from the sixth on to chop into the deficit. John Ghyzel struck out 10 in a perfect ninth to earn his 11th save of the season, the most for any pitcher in Class A.