The Cincinnati Reds hope a solid April will continue into May for hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Greene.

Greene is set to take the mound for the Reds when they open a three-game series against the visiting Washington Nationals on Friday night.

Greene (3-2, 2.56 ERA) had four quality starts in five outings last month, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.70 ERA. The 2024 NL All-Star struck out 35 in 31 2/3 innings while issuing just five walks.

"I feel like I'm in a good place," Greene said. "It's still very early in the season, so just trying to continue to build off of it and stay present in the moment and keep being aggressive."

Greene allowed just one run over 22 2/3 innings through his first three starts in April.

He had a rough outing in a 9-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on April 19 before navigating through six innings last Saturday at the Colorado Rockies, earning the win after surrendering three runs and seven hits. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter for the first time this season.

"Obviously, the expectation for myself is higher than the line (against the Rockies)," Green said. "But, pitching (at Coors Field), there's a lot of different adversity you've got to go through."

Greene has made one start against the Nationals in his career and did not earn a decision.

The Nationals ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win at the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The bullpen came through for Washington as Jose A. Ferrer, Jorge Lopez and Kyle Finnegan combined to throw four scoreless innings.

The Nationals plan to start left-hander Mitchell Parker (3-1, 2.65) in the series opener.

Parker is coming off his poorest outing of the season, allowing seven runs (six earned) and seven hits in five innings of an 8-7 home win against the New York Mets last Sunday.

Parker gave up five runs in the first before settling in, and Washington scored five runs in the seventh and two in the ninth to keep him from taking the loss.

"You always can learn a lot from an outing like that," Parker said. "You're not going to have the best stuff. You're not always going to be 100 percent there, but you've got to battle. That's the name of the game. You've got to fight and give the team the best chance you can."

Parker has never faced the Reds in his two-year career.

The Reds made a bold move on Thursday and optioned reliever Alexis Diaz to Triple-A Louisville. Diaz had posted 65 saves over the last two seasons, he struggled in his first six appearances this season, posting a 12.00 ERA with three strikeouts and five walks in six innings.

Diaz entered in the ninth inning with the Reds trailing 1-0 in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. He surrendered three home runs and five runs in a 6-0 loss.

"The consistency was not there," Reds manager Terry Francona said.

The Reds recalled Luis Mey from Louisville, and he pitched a perfect ninth in the 9-1 win on Thursday, retiring all three batters he faced with a strikeout in his major league debut.

"He has got the arsenal," Francona said.