Hunter Greene strikes out 11 in Game 2

ST. LOUIS — For a team that finds itself in the position in which the Reds are currently situated, baseball at the end of September offers an important opportunity for learning. Already eliminated from postseason play, they now find themselves evaluating a wide variety of players in a wide variety of ways — some for performance, some for health and some to see whether seasons of journeying through the Minor Leagues might be at an unexpected end.

The Reds were swept in Saturday’s doubleheader at Busch Stadium, losing the first game, 5-1, and the second, 1-0, in 11 innings.

The day’s 20 innings of baseball were capped off by Nick Senzel, moving in from center field to become the club’s fifth infielder, spearing a ground ball and delivering a strong throw home that deflected off Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner, rolling helplessly away on the grass.

Hunter Greene’s performance in the nightcap, however, went a long way toward easing the frustration of the way the night ended. Placed on the injured list with a right shoulder strain after a superlative start in Miami on Aug. 1 (six innings, one hit, eight strikeouts), Greene made his return to the big leagues with a performance so far beyond sharp as to have seemingly been honed on a whetstone.

“That’s one of the best starts I’ve ever seen,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He just absolutely dominated, and we’re talking about a first-place team with outstanding hitters up and down the lineup. Left, right, it didn’t matter.”

Eight of Greene’s first nine outs recorded were strikeouts, and the first seven of those eight were on pitches registering 101 mph or harder, according to Statcast. Greene became the first pitcher with more than three strikeouts of that velocity in a single outing in the pitch tracking era (since 2008).

He finished with an audacious eight of that variety, and a total of 11, setting a new career high. He threw 47 pitches of 100 mph or harder, breaking his own previous record — which he set April 16 — by eight.

“I have all this built into my own mind, in my own head about how the first game back is gonna be,” Greene explained. “A lot of work put in, a lot of focus, and to come out and then perform well, it’s always nice.”

While steadfastly avoiding peeking at the radar gun in the midst of his performance, Greene did acknowledge that feeling strength coupled with results reinforced his positive outlook.

“I really worked hard in this time off and…