Dodgers dominate D-backs, securing series win

PHOENIX -- The Dodgers took a six-run lead into the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night and still needed a Kenley Jansen save to beat Arizona, 8-5, at Chase Field.

"It's one of those buildings where you know things can get started," said manager Don Mattingly, who needed Jansen to strike out Gerardo Parra for the final out with the tying run on deck.

"A run scores and the next thing you know, they're on a roll. You worry about that. It's not quite Colorado [Coors Field], but pretty darn close."

So after a stress-free win Friday, Mattingly sweated this one out a bit before sending former D-back Dan Haren to the mound Sunday looking for another sweep against the team the Dodgers beat twice in Australia to open the season.

The big lead Saturday was built with Adrian Gonzalez slugging another home run and Zack Greinke striking out eight and allowing one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Gonzalez also homered in Friday night's 6-0 win and has four on the season. He has an eight-game hitting streak and seven-game extra-base hitting streak. Two RBIs gave him a club-high 11 in 12 games. Juan Uribe went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs.

Greinke raised his record to 3-0 this year and he's 10-1 in his last 14 starts dating to last year, while the Dodgers have gone 25-6 in his starts since he signed. He allowed eight hits without a walk and was removed after throwing 103 pitches, saying his repertoire was "useable" but he "couldn't always count on" them working.

Still, he's now one of two pitchers since 1914 (Mat Latos the other) with 15 consecutive starts of at least five innings allowing two runs or fewer, which even he conceded is no fluke.

"I've been pretty consistent for a while," he said. "You have to pitch good to do that, but some games I've gotten breaks. Not 15 games, you still have to pitch good. But like today, it could have changed easily."

While going 4-0 against Arizona in the first 12 games this season, the Dodgers have "held" Paul Goldschmidt to 5-for-18 (.278), including 1-for-5 in this game. Goldschmidt hit .388 against the Dodgers last year.

"We treat him with a lot of respect," Mattingly said of Goldschmidt. "He's a smart guy and you don't want him to beat you. You've got to keep changing what you do to him."

Goldschmidt's lone hit was a two-out double off Greinke, who struck him out with a runner on third in the first inning and popped him up with two outs and runners on second and third in the third inning.

"I was kind of lucky," Greinke said. "The ball just sort of went where I wanted it to go against him, with a little skill mixed in. This was a really good game, a really hard game. Today was tough, but I kept runs off the board."

As they did for Hyun-Jin Ryu the night before, the Dodgers gave Greinke a comfortable early lead, this time against Arizona starter Wade Miley, as Mattingly loaded his lineup with right-handed hitters, sitting lefty outfielders Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford.

Scott Van Slyke, who homered and doubled off Miley in Australia, followed a walk to Gonzalez leading off the second with a laser off the left-field fence that missed a homer by a foot for a double that sent Gonzalez to third. Uribe followed with a broken-bat flare over first base to score Van Slyke and Gonzalez.

Yasiel Puig led off the third inning with a single up the middle. With one out, Puig took second on a wild pitch. With two out, Gonzalez, the only left-handed bat in the Dodgers' lineup, slugged his home run.

Puig's second hit, a two-out single in the fourth, cashed in Justin Turner's leadoff double for a 5-0 lead.

Arizona finally scored on A.J. Pollock's pinch-homer leading off the bottom of the fifth. Arizona gave back the run after reliever Oliver Perez walked Drew Butera leading off the top of the sixth. Butera scored when third baseman Martin Prado misplayed a sharp Matt Kemp two-out grounder into an error.

The Dodgers scored again in the top of the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Hanley Ramirez off J.J. Putz, but Arizona matched that with an RBI single by Cliff Pennington off Paul Maholm. The D-backs scored three runs off Brandon League in the ninth, two on a Mark Trumbo double, before Jansen came on for his third save, a bounce-back effort after two rough outings against Detroit.