Reds pitching coach Bryan Price is not a mustache man. For the last two weeks, he let one grow because of an off-hand comment he made to the pitchers in spring training, a promise he had forgotten by September, but one Homer Bailey remembered well.

“I’m sure I said something in spring training that, if any of you incompetents can potentially throw a no-hitter, I would grow a mustache, or something like that,” Price said. “Obviously, it was all in jest.”

Bailey delivered Sept. 28 with the first Reds no-hitter since 1988, and the first question he had for Price on the field after being mobbed by his teammates was about the mustache promise.

Price honored his commitment and grew a self-described ridiculous mustache for two weeks. He shaved it Wednesday after Bailey’s masterful seven-inning performance in a 2-1 loss in Game 3 on Tuesday.

“I think I honored (the promise) by going on national TV with a mustache in a game Homer pitched,” Price said. “Once he got done with it, I couldn’t get it off fast enough.”

Price may not be able to handle whiskers on his face, but he knows something about how to handle a pitching staff. This season, the Reds became the eighth team in baseball history to have five starters make at least 30 starts.

“There is nothing in particular I’m doing,” Price said. “A lot of it is good fortune and good luck, and it helps to have guys that are in unison and understand the importance of preparation, of taking care of their bodies and working with the strength and conditioning coach and being able to avoid all the things that can create problems.

“In the National League, you have to concern yourself with guys handling the bat and running the bases. There are a lot of ways to get knocked out of the ballgame that don’t have anything to do with throwing the baseball.”

That luck ended in Game 1 when Johnny Cueto left with a strained oblique muscle.

“I’m certainly disappointed for him personally because he’s had some milestone moments this year,” Price said. “He had a chance for 20 wins, and we took him out because we were concerned about making sure he was ready for the postseason.”