Cincinnati Reds starter Scott Feldman sensational in shutout

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The approach worked. Price talked to pitching coach Mack Jenkins. They agreed his pitch count was low enough to let Feldman pitch the ninth.

Feldman retired the side in order in the ninth with three groundouts as the Reds beat the San Francisco Giants 4-0 to complete a three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati (17-14) extended its season-long winning streak to five games, improving to 6-1 on this nine-game homestand.

Price said Feldman (2-3, 3.76 ERA) earned the chance to go for the shutout. He allowed four hits and walked one. He struck out five. He threw 119 pitches.

“He was sensational,” Price said. “He never really allowed the Giants to get excited offensively.”

Feldman threw his first shutout since Aug. 30, 2014, when he was playing for the Houston Astros. This was the first shutout by a Reds pitcher at Great American Ball Park since April 16, 2014. Ironically, the pitcher for the Reds that day was Johnny Cueto, who was the opposing pitcher Sunday.

The 34-year-old Feldman, who is 73-80 in the big leagues, outperformed the former Reds ace. Cueto, 31, is 118-77 in his career and 4-2 with a 4.50 ERA in his second season with the Giants.

Feldman bounced back from his worst start of the season. He allowed seven earned runs on six hits in four innings Tuesday in a 12-3 loss to the Pirates. He started his discussion with Price in the eighth by asking if his returning to pitch the ninth inning was negotiable.

“A lot of times it’s not negotiable,” Feldman said, “so don’t even bother. He showed some confidence in me, which is nice. It’s a tough situation because if I go out there and give up a hit or two, it makes it tough on the reliever. Fortunately, it was a nice, clean inning.”

The Reds scored two runs in the first. Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett drove in runs with singles. The Reds added runs in the third and fifth on solo home runs by Scott Schebler and Zack Cozart. All the runs came against Cueto (4-2, 4.50).

The Reds improved to 39-24 against the Giants since the start of the 2008 season. They swept the Giants in Cincinnati for the first time since 2013. They outscored the Giants 31-5 in this series.

The Reds will enter Monday with at least a share of first place in the National League Central Division.

“No one’s playing scared,” Cozart said. “No matter who we’re playing, we think we can win the game. I don’t know if we were necessarily playing scared the last couple of years, but I don’t know if we were confident going into every game. This year, I feel there’s that energy about us. If we play like we can, we’re going to win. It kinds of reminds me of 2012 and 2013. We’re not that far into the season obviously, but we have that same energy where you just show up and expect to win.”