Greinke fans five Angels in spring finale
ANAHEIM -- Tommy Hanson and Zack Greinke each pitched well in important, final tuneups, and Hank Conger brought down the spring curtain with a walk-off homer as the Angels beat the Dodgers, 2-1, in front of a sold-out crowd of 44,717 at Angel Stadium on Saturday night.
The Dodgers took two of three in the annual exhibition Freeway Series, finishing Spring Training at 13-20-3 before hosting the Giants in Monday's Opening Day at 1:10 p.m. PT. The Angels, who open up in Cincinnati at 1:10 p.m., finished at 10-20-4.
Hanson, the Angels' fifth starter, went 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run on three hits while walking two and striking out six. There was some concern when the 26-year-old right-hander left after three innings on March 20 because of non-threatening right triceps tightness, but he got his necessary workload in a Minor League game five days later and pitched well in a 93-pitch outing on Saturday.
He lines up to start next Saturday at Rangers Ballpark.
"I feel like I'm close and my stamina is up and everything is good, and my endurance is where it needs to be," Hanson said. "All those positives, but then it's time to move on. That's Spring Training. Now I have to get ready for my first start next week."
Greinke missed three starts in March because of a bout with the flu and elbow inflammation, prompting the Dodgers to slot their $147 million arm in the fourth spot of their rotation. But Greinke cruised through his former team in a five-inning, 81-pitch outing -- giving up a run on three hits and a walk while striking out five -- and lines up to start against the Pirates on Friday.
It was Greinke's first game at Angel Stadium since his two-month stint here down the stretch last season.
"I guess I didn't think about it too much, actually," Greinke said of facing the Angels. "I mean, I like facing [Alberto] Callaspo. I played with him a bunch. I like facing him, even before this. He was with me in Kansas City and with the Angels. It was good to face [Mike] Trout for the first time. I got to see what he's about, facing him instead of just watching him."
Trout drove in the Angels' first run on a third-inning RBI groundout and finished the spring with a .350 batting average after going 0-for-3 in the finale. The Dodgers scored in the first thanks to leadoff hitter Carl Crawford, who drew a walk, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Matt Kemp's sacrifice fly.
Kemp, crowned the Freeway Series MVP, was the only hitter on either side with multiple hits, going 2-for-2 to finish his spring with a .250 batting average.
Josh Wall, Chris Capuano and Peter Moylan of the Dodgers, and Jerome Williams, Scott Downs and Ernesto Frieri of the Angels each had scoreless outings.
Yimi Garcia was on the mound for L.A. when Conger hit his first spring homer.