McCoy: Hunter Greene pitches Reds past Braves in stellar MLB debut

And what an introduction it was for the 22-year-old first-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds in 2017.

His much-anticipated debut came against the defending World Series champion Braves and it could not have been better.

Pitching in front of a full house that included his parents, Greene pitched like a wise, grizzled veteran.

Greene pitched five innings and gave up three runs, four hits, walked two and struck out seven as the Reds gained a series split, two games apiece, 6-3.

Greene’s only problem surfaced in the fifth when he gave up home runs to Travis d’Arnaud and Mat Olson.

Wasn’t it time for manager David Bell to rescue him? No, Bell permitted Greene to finish the fifth, qualifying him for his first major league win.

Greene threw 92 pitches, 56 fastballs that several times reached plus-100 mph, and 36 breaking pitches.

And why did manager David Bell sit on his hands and watch Greene get the last out of the fifth?

“We pushed him a little bit to get him through that fifth inning,” Bell said during post-game media interviews. “He was still throwing the ball well. He put forth a lot of effort, but he didn’t have to work too hard, which allowed him to finish that fifth inning.

“It couldn’t have gone any better against such a good lineup. He made some nice adjustments during his last two innings of spring training, which got him into a nice tempo with his delivery and he took that right into today.”

Before the game, Greene told himself not to get bogged down thinking about the potent Braves and the full house. But he admitted before he threw his first pitch, he looked up to absorb the atmosphere.

Then he blew away the Braves 1-2-3 in the first inning and was on his way, whizzing straight down the tracks like the Sante Fe Super Chief.

“I felt like I was right at home, but I told myself when I took the mound, ‘Don’t look up.’ But I looked up to take it all in an enjoy it,” he told reporters.

It was no enjoyable for the home team as Greene didn’t give up a hit in the first three innings. He put two on in the fourth, but first baseman Joey Votto snagged a line drive that was destined for the right field corner and a two-run double.

“I felt really comfortable out there and felt very happy for day,” he said. “The team did a great job behind me of getting the lead early and putting me in a good position to win.”

The Reds scored five runs off Ian Anderson in the third inning to give Greene a nice comfort zone.

Tyler Naquin doubled home the first run, another run scored on Nick Senzel’s fielder’s choice,  Colin Moran singled home a run and Kyle Farmer singled home two runs.

The sixth run scored on Tyler Stephenson’s home run in the fifth.

About his 1-2-3 first inning, Greene said, “It is always nice to start off with the momentum going in your favor,” he said. “You feed off that and continue to pound the zone and attack. The main thing is not getting too caught up in who’s at the plate. You know what your strengths are, what you comfortable throwing and what you are really good at throwing.”

So what was his debut all he expected?

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I was so locked in. I took it all in, but I wanted to stay in the present. Full house … great attendance … and I’ve always fed off that, always thrived in those situations. And I’ll continue to thrive in those situations.”

As was the case in all four games of the series, the Cincinnati bullpen was unblemished in preserving Greene’s win.

Luis Cessa pitched 1 2/3 innings of no runs, one hit, Tony Santillan pitched 1 1/3 innings of no runs and one hit, then Art Warren closed it in the ninth giving up a hit, but no runs, for his first career save.

Naquin had two hits, drove in a run and scored one. Farmer had two hits and drove in two. Newcomer Tommy Pham was 0 for 5 and is 0 for 15 in Reds uniform.

Greene said he battled to find his breaking pitch in spring training, but it showed up on the mound with him Sunday.