Greinke buckles down to edge Dodgers

June 14th, 2016

PHOENIX -- D-backs starter Zack Greinke got the best of his former team on Monday night, allowing two runs over seven innings in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Chase Field.
Greinke (9-3) scattered seven hits and struck out six on a season-high 119 pitches en route to his sixth straight victory. During that stretch, he has a 2.05 ERA.
"I thought Zack battled," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "Early in the game, they got him, and he was able to make the adjustment and just make better quality pitches. That's why he's a true No. 1 and he's a special pitcher."
Just desert: Greinke burns former club
Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb each hit solo home runs for the D-backs, who won three straight for the first time since they won five in a row from May 6-10.
"I've never given up home runs like this," said Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger, who has allowed seven homers in 25 innings.
Bolsinger (1-4) took the loss, giving up three earned runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander has not completed six innings in 11 straight starts dating back to last season. Corey Seager homered for the Dodgers, who lost their third straight and for the fifth time in seven games.
"Zack throws pitches that look like strikes and end up balls," said Seager. "He was effective."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Coming through clutch: D-backs second baseman Jean Segura put his team ahead, and he then preserved that lead in the next half-inning. He knocked in a run with a two-out single in the fifth, putting Arizona up, 3-2. In the sixth, he robbed Scott Van Slyke of a bloop RBI single when he retreated into shallow center field and made an over-the-shoulder grab.

"If you want to win some games, you have to play really good defense, especially with good teams like the Dodgers," Segura said. "I just barely got it. It was an emotional play. It's one of those plays that get you all fired up." More >
Not coming through clutch: In three of the first six innings against Greinke, the Dodgers had runners in scoring position with fewer than two outs and were unable to score. Wasted were one-out doubles from Van Slyke and Joc Pederson, and a two-on, no-out chance in the third when Greinke struck out Adrian Gonzalez and Trayce Thompson (on a questionable check swing), then popped up Pederson. In the eighth, after Daniel Hudson walked the bases loaded with one out, Brad Ziegler struck out Kike Hernandez and Michael Bourn made a diving catch of Howie Kendrick's sinking liner.

"We had some good at-bats in that eighth inning," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "But Ziegler is tough against right-handed hitters and Howie had a good at-bat, but Bourn made the catch. I applaud our guys for the way they competed tonight." More >
Home run leaders: Goldschmidt and Lamb entered tied for the D-backs' team lead in home runs, and both hit opposite-field homers against Bolsinger. Goldschmidt tied the game at 1 with his 12th of the year in the first, and then Lamb hit his 12th to put Arizona ahead, 2-1, in the third.

"I thought we hit the ball really well today," said Greinke. "Three [runs] is what we ended up with. They hit the ball pretty good, too. Give them credit. This game could have been an 8-5 game just as easily."
All-Star worthy: A fifth-inning game-tying home run over the swimming pool gave Seager 15 on the season and six this month. The homer was projected by Statcast™ to land 440 feet away and had an exit velocity of 106.4 mph. Seager also singled in the first inning and scored, then walked in the third inning.
"I don't think you're going to catch him off-guard," Seager said of Greinke. "He's going to compete the whole game, do what he has to do to get through seven innings. That's the kind of pitcher he is. I think he's pretty fired up every game. He's a competitor, regardless of who he is going against."
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Ziegler picked up a five-out save, his 41st in a row to extend his club record. The D-backs' closer is tied for the seventh-longest streak of all-time with Heath Bell, Trevor Hoffman and Rod Beck. It was Ziegler's first save of more than three outs this season.

"I didn't do anything different than what I normally try to," said Ziegler, who escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
The Dodgers challenged first-base umpire Brian Knight's on-field call of a Goldschmidt home run that landed in the visitors' bullpen with one out in the sixth inning. The call was overturned and ruled a foul ball.

WHAT'S NEXT
Dodgers:Kenta Maeda gets the start Tuesday night in a 6:40 p.m. PT start. In his last outing, Maeda struck out a season-high nine but took a tough 1-0 defeat against Colorado. On April 12 in his Dodger Stadium debut, Maeda pitched six scoreless innings against Arizona in a no-decision.
D-backs:Archie Bradley takes the mound in the second of the three-game series on Tuesday at Chase Field at 6:40 p.m. MST. Bradley lost his second consecutive outing last time out. The right-hander looks to get back on track against the Dodgers, who he beat in his Major League debut on April 11, 2015.
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