PHOENIX -- When D-backs manager Chip Hale went to visit Zack Greinke on the mound in the seventh inning Monday night, the right-hander was in a jam. The Dodgers had a runner on first with one out and Greinke had thrown 109 pitches and was facing Corey Seager, who he had yet to retire on the night.
Hale decided to leave Greinke in and it proved to be the right move as the ace retired Seager and Justin Turner to get out of the inning as the D-backs went on to beat the Dodgers, 3-2, at Chase Field.
It was the first time that Greinke (9-3) had faced the Dodgers since he elected to leave them via free agency during the offseason and sign with Arizona. When Greinke came to the plate each time, he received applause from D-backs fans, but also boos from the Dodgers fans in attendance.
"A little more than normal," Greinke said when asked if it was fun to face his former team. "But I've played on several teams, so I'm used to facing previous teams. That wasn't really much. The fans were pretty loud today, so that made it more so of an intense game."
Greinke allowed a run in the first when Turner's double off the wall in center scored Seager and another run in the fifth when Seager homered.
Seager and Turner combined to go 4-for-7 off Greinke while the rest of the Dodgers' lineup was 3-for-21. That's what made Hale's decision to leave Greinke in the game difficult.
"[Reliever Tyler] Clippard was ready, so just wanted to make sure he felt good," Hale said. "He's very honest. That's one thing that Zack will give you, is honesty and he was very honest that he felt like his stuff was still good."
Greinke said he wasn't sure what to tell Hale, because while he thought he had good stuff, the Dodgers were having quality at-bats against him.
"I thought I could still make good pitches," Greinke said. "I felt if I made good pitches, I'd get them out. So he said, 'Well, then just make good pitches.'"
That's just what Greinke did, as he got Seager to fly out to left and fanned Turner to end the inning and finish his night having thrown a season-high 119 pitches.
Greinke has won his last six starts and compiled a 2.05 ERA over that span. He is 9-1 with a 3.01 ERA in his last 12 starts.
"We played really good when I've pitched," Greinke said. "And I've pitched good, too."