Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2024/Cincinnati Reds–Oakland Athletics bottom of the 1st inning on April 29, 2023

Bottom of the 1st

Hunter Greene struck out two of three Oakland batters in the bottom of the 1st.
Cincinnati Reds Oakland Athletics 0
Teams	Cincinnati Reds Oakland Athletics
Date	April 29, 2023
Venue	Oakland Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Managers	David Bell (Cincinnati Reds) Mark Kotsay (Oakland Athletics)
Umpires	HP: D. J. Reyburn 1B: John Libka 2B: Edwin Jiménez 3B: James Hoye
Attendance	7,052
Ceremonial first pitch	Hunter Greene
Radio	KNEW
Radio announcers	Ken Korach (play-by-play) Vince Cotroneo, Johnny Doskow (color commentary)

On Saturday, April 29, 2023, the bottom of the 1st inning was played between the Cincinnati Reds of the National League, and the Oakland Athletics of the American League. Played at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, the inning in total featured three batters for the Athletics and one pitcher for the Reds. Of the three batters, only one was able to put a ball in play, and all three failed to get on base.

The Reds's starting pitcher, Hunter Greene, started the bottom half of the first with success, as he was able to throw many high-90 mile per hour fastballs in the strike zone, making it difficult for Oakland hitters to react in time to make contact with them. Using the fastball in combination with a slider, Greene struck out two out of three batters and induced many swinging strikes from Oakland batters.

Rosters

Cincinnati Reds roster
Active roster				Inactive roster		Coaches/Other
Pitchers Starting rotation 85 Luis Cessa 21 Hunter Greene 40 Nick Lodolo 34 Luke Weaver Bullpen 63 Fernando Cruz 46 Buck Farmer 79 Ian Gibaut 47 Derek Law 65 Casey Legumina 52 Reiver Sanmartín 39 Lucas Sims 48 Alex Young Closer(s) 43 Alexis Díaz		Catchers 12 Curt Casali 22 Luke Maile 37 Tyler Stephenson Infielders  2 José Barrero  6 Jonathan India 28 Kevin Newman  3 Matt Reynolds  7 Spencer Steer Outfielders 17 Stuart Fairchild 27 Jake Fraley 29 TJ Friedl 31 Henry Ramos 15 Nick Senzel		Pitchers 51 Graham Ashcraft # 57 Kevin Herget 74 Ricky Karcher 66 Joel Kuhnel 71 Connor Overton 72 Lyon Richardson 58 Levi Stoudt 55 Brandon Williamson Infielders 44 Elly De La Cruz 68 Noelvi Marte 19 Joey Votto Outfielders 30 Will Benson  4 Wil Myers 38 Mike Siani		Manager 25 David Bell Coaches 92 Kyle Arnsberg (assistant coach) 45 Freddie Benavides (bench) 60 Terry Bradshaw (assistant hitting) 54 Collin Cowgill (first base) 91 Jose Duarte (bullpen catcher) 56 J. R. House (third base/catching) 36 Derek Johnson (director of pitching) 88 Alon Leichman (assistant pitching) 62 Joel McKeithan (hitting/offensive coordinator) 61 Jeff Pickler (game planning/outfield) 90 Matt Tracy (bullpen) 60-day injured list 70 Tejay Antone 49 Justin Dunn 53 Vladimir Gutiérrez 64 Tony Santillan 26 active, 14 inactive 7-, 10-, or 15-day injured list # Personal leave Roster and coaches updated April 28, 2023 Transactions • Depth chart → All MLB rosters

Oakland Athletics roster
Active roster				Inactive roster		Coaches/Other
Pitchers Starting rotation 57 Mason Miller 39 Kyle Muller 47 Drew Rucinski 38 JP Sears 64 Ken Waldichuk Bullpen 68 Domingo Acevedo 31 Jeurys Familia 11 Shintaro Fujinami 61 Zach Jackson 66 Sam Long 45 Richard Lovelady 60 Sam Moll 36 Adam Oller		Catchers 23 Shea Langeliers 44 Carlos Pérez Infielders 12 Aledmys Díaz 13 Jordan Díaz  5 Tony Kemp 49 Ryan Noda  6 Jace Peterson  4 Kevin Smith Outfielders 21 Conner Capel 22 Ramón Laureano 25 Brent Rooker  1 Esteury Ruiz Designated hitters 99 Jesús Aguilar		Pitchers 58 Paul Blackburn 63 Hogan Harris 32 James Kaprielian 55 Adrián Martínez 46 Luis Medina 65 Trevor May 30 Chad Smith Catchers 28 Manny Piña Infielders  2 Nick Allen 26 Jonah Bride Outfielders 33 JJ Bleday 15 Seth Brown 77 Lawrence Butler		Manager  7 Mark Kotsay Coaches 18 Mike Aldrete (first base) 51 Darren Bush (bench) 90 Wilkin Castillo (bullpen catcher) 41 Chris Cron (assistant hitting) 14 Scott Emerson (pitching) 52 Tommy Everidge (hitting) 91 Dustin Hughes (bullpen catcher) 59 Marcus Jensen (quality control)  3 Eric Martins (third base) 71 Mike McCarthy (bullpen) 60-day injured list 56 Dany Jiménez 54 Kirby Snead 62 Freddy Tarnok 26 active, 13 inactive 7-, 10-, or 15-day injured list # Personal leave Roster and coaches updated April 29, 2023 Transactions • Depth chart → All MLB rosters

Summary

To begin the Athletics' side of the order, the Reds sent out second–year starter and former second overall pick Hunter Greene to take the mound. The Athletics sent out their center fielder Esteury Ruiz to bat first against Greene. Before the first pitch was even thrown, a new rule implemented for the 2023 season and beyond was enforced. Starting in this season, a pitch clock was implemented for the first time in Major League Baseball. The change was made to increase the speed of the game and reduce the amount of time the game would last. Greene, before throwing a pitch to Ruiz, used all 15 seconds allotted to pitchers with the bases empty, and thus was charged with an automatic ball. With the count at one ball and no strikes, Greene threw his first pitch of the day– a 97 mile per hour fastball for a strike. This pitch would be the first of many high–velocity fastballs utilized by Greene during the bottom half of the inning. The second pitch of the at bat was the same as the first: a 97 mile per hour fastball. Ruiz swung at it and missed, leaving the count at one ball and two strikes. Greene, attempting to get a quick strikeout, threw a slider on his third pitch, but Ruiz didn't swing and it moved out of the zone, evening the count. With the offspeed pitch not fooling Ruiz, Greene opted to return to the fastball for the fourth pitch of the at–bat. Ruiz hit it softly back to Greene, who tossed the ball to first baseman Spencer Steer for the first out.

The second hitter in the Oakland batting order was first baseman Ryan Noda. Greene's first pitch to Noda was a slider caught outside the strike zone. Noda, unlike Ruiz, swung at the slider and missed, making the count no balls and one strike. Having utilized the fastball several times already, Greene opted to throw another slider with his second pitch. This slider moved farther inside than the last one, so much so that Noda, a left–handed batter, had to move out of the way to avoid being hit. With the control of his slider under question, Greene threw two straight fastballs: the first was swung on and missed, and the second one was tipped into the glove of catcher Luke Maile for the strikeout.

Brent Rooker, the third hitter in the Oakland batting order, came up next to face Greene. Greene, like he did against Noda, led off the at–bat by throwing a slider. It was similar to the near–miss of Noda in that it went far to the left, but it did not affect Rooker as he batted from the right side. Greene threw another fastball that Rooker swung and missed at for strike one, then another fastball that was arguably a strike, but was called a ball by home plate umpire D. J. Reyburn. Greene went back to the slider on his next pitch, finally locating it in the zone and inducing a whiff from Rooker, evening the count. For the fifth pitch of the at–bat, Greene repeated his cycle of throwing the same pitch twice in a row, throwing his slider away and in the dirt, forcing Maile to move over and block it with his glove. Rooker, who had swung, attempted unsuccessfully to check up. Maile tagged Rooker to ensure Greene of his second strikeout and end the inning.

Statistics

Linescore

Team	1	R	H	E
Cincinnati Reds	X	X	X	0
Oakland Athletics	0	0	0	X
WP: Hunter Greene   LP:

Box score

Reds	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hunter Greene	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

Athletics center fielder Esteury Ruiz led off the inning by grounding out.

Athletics	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Esteury Ruiz, CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ryan Noda, 1B	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Brent Rooker, DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Carlos Pérez, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	X
Conner Capel, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	X
Ramón Laureano, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	X
Jace Peterson, 3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	X
Aledmys Díaz, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	X
Jordan Díaz, 2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	D
Totals	3	0	0	0	0	2	.000

Aftermath

The Reds won the game by a score of 3 to 2.

See also

• Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2022/Chicago White Sox–Cincinnati Reds top of the 4th inning on March 31, 2022
• Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2023/Milwaukee Brewers–Pittsburgh Pirates bottom of the 6th inning on August 3, 2023
• Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2024