Hunter Greene

Lopez coughed up seven hits in his second-half debut, including a solo homer to Will Benson, and was saddled with a loss after Reds counterpart Hunter Greene and a pair of Cincinnati relievers completely shut down Atlanta's offense. He finished with five strikeouts and only issued a pair of walks. The 30-year-old right-hander has vastly exceeded expectations this season, no matter how you slice the data, but he's given up 18 hits combined over his last two outings, which is a cause for concern. He'll aim to turn things around on Saturday against the division-rival Mets.

Greene kicked off the second half in style with a dominant performance on Monday night at Truist Park, limiting Atlanta's struggling offense to just a pair of hits and three free passes over seven nearly-flawless frames. The hard-throwing 24-year-old All-Star right-hander generated 11 swinging strikes and allowed just four batted balls with an exit velocity over 95 mph. He's been on a roll over the last few weeks, allowing just one run on seven hits with a 24/7 K/BB ratio across 20 innings of work (three starts) dating back to July 6. He'll aim to keep the momentum going on Sunday when he squares off against the Rays in another road matchup.

Ozuna, who boasts a stellar .980 OPS with 28 homers and 79 RBI this season, supplied two of Atlanta's three hits combined off Hunter Greene and a pair of Cincinatti relievers as they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on-base in a near-shutout. Yuck.

Cincinnati Reds' Hunter Greene made a slick behind-the-back grab and threw out the runner against the Atlanta Braves.

The Cincinnati Reds agreed to an MLB draft-record $9.25-million signing bonus with second overall pick Chase Burns, Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline reports.Burns officially turned pro Thursday by inking his deal with the Reds. Burns Notice @ChaseBurns20 is officially a Cincinnati Red pic.twitter.com/p3RBLetqu6 Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 18, 2024 Burns' record is just $50,000 more than the previous high set last year by Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes. His bonus is also the highest ever given to a second overall pick, eclipsing the $9 million Dylan Crews received from the Washington Nationals in 2023.His deal came in well below the No. 2 pick's slot value of $9,785,000.Burns, who was born in Naples, Italy, was widely considered the top right-handed pitcher in this year's draft. The 21-year-old dominated in his junior year at Wake Forest after transferring from Tennessee, going 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 191 strikeouts (17.2 K/9) over 16 starts for the Demon Deacons this past year.Cincinnati selected a pitcher with its top draft pick for a second straight season after choosing Rhett Lowder seventh overall in 2023. The team also took a pitcher the last time it picked second in 2017 when the club chose 2024 All-Star Hunter Greene.Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.