Greinke extends scoreless streak in gem

LOS ANGELES -- It was more of the same from Zack Greinke on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, although there's nothing ordinary about the way he's been pitching.

Saturday's outing was nearly a carbon copy of his last three starts: seven innings, four hits, zero runs and four strikeouts. The only runs for New York came off the Dodgers' bullpen as Los Angeles held on for a 4-3 win.

Greinke extended his scoreless streak to 27 2/3 innings, the second-longest active streak in the Majors behind Rangers pitcher Yovani Gallardo's 29 1/3 innings. Greinke hasn't allowed a run since June 13.

Video: NYM@LAD: Mattingly on Greinke, 4-3 win over Mets

"No mistakes really, or less than normal," Greinke said of the key to his streak.

Greinke didn't allow a hit in his final three innings, and the Mets never even reached third base against him.

"I felt good the whole time, not any more so later in the game than early," Greinke said.

Greinke's four consecutive starts without allowing a run ties the second-longest streak in franchise history. The longest was six straight, set by Orel Hershiser in 1988 and Don Drysdale in 1968.

He lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 1.48 and his ERA is 0.64 in his last six starts combined.

"I just think he's doing what he always does," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He throws the fastball to both sides of the plate, he's got the changeup, the slider when he needs it. He knows how he wants to attack every guy. There's not a guy that walks up there that he doesn't know how he wants to pitch him."

Video: NYM@LAD: Greinke singles to left, flips bat in style

Greinke was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Dodgers tacked on an insurance run, but Mattingly said Greinke would have come back for the first two hitters of the eighth inning if the Dodgers didn't get to his spot in the lineup. Greinke threw 100 pitches on the day.

"It was a long inning, we tacked on a run, and at that point it didn't really seem worth it," Mattingly said.

Greinke has had this sort of success before, back in 2009 as a member of the Kansas City Royals.

He opened the season with 24 scoreless innings over four starts. While a younger Greinke might've gotten caught up in a streak like that, this version of Greinke doesn't.

"I don't really think about it," Greinke said of the streak. "I had a pretty good one in Kansas City. I thought it was cool then, not so much now."

The right-hander is considered one of the favorites to start for the National League in the All-Star game, although Greinke said, just as he doesn't think about the past, he's not thinking about the future.