BEYOND SHADOW OF A DROUGHT
Greinke stifles Marlins and gets just enough support to earn his first win since May 5.
DODGERS 2, MIAMI 0
MIAMI — Did Zack Greinke dance when the Dodgers scored Sunday?
Manager Don Mattingly smiled.
“I saw him dancing on the inside,” Mattingly said.
Yes, it f inally happened: Greinke won a game.
He ended a nine- start winless streak in a 2- 0 victory over the Miami Marlins, whom he limited to four hits and a walk over 72⁄3 innings.
The two runs of support were two more than Greinke received in his two previous starts combined. Greinke’s last win was on May 5.
Greinke lowered his earned- run average to 1.58, best in the major leagues, and improved his record to 6- 2. Finally.
“I haven’t been paying attention to it,” he said.
The end of the unwanted streak shifted the postgame conversation to Greinke’s early- season dominance, which Mattingly compared to Clayton Kershaw’s last year .
Kershaw posted a 1.77 ERA on his way to claiming the National League’s most valuable player and Cy Young awards.
“It seems similar,” Mattingly said. “Every outing is really, really good. Probably
the reason Clayton’s ends up being totally historic is that everything we needed to happen did last year. If we needed three runs, we got three. If we needed two, we got two. Zack just hasn’t had that same thing.” Greinke disagreed. “Mine’s been very average compared to his, I think,” Greinke said. “He’d go like eight innings every start and strike out eightplus. Mine’s been a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill.”
Very average? Greinke was reminded that he has allowed one or no runs in 12 of his 16 starts.
“It’s in between average and what he did last year,” Greinke conceded.
While saying his curveball has been “so- so, at best,” Greinke described his fastball, slider and changeup as “high- quality.”
“A lot of guys have four pitches, but there are not a lot of guys that have four that they throw for strikes and use whenever they want,” Mattingly said.
Asked why Greinke is performing better than he did in his two previous seasons with the Dodgers, Mattingly replied, “This year, it seems he’s been sharp from the very beginning. Last year and the year before, it just took him a while to get into the f low of the season.”
Second baseman Howie Kendrick played behind Greinke after the righthander was traded to the Angels in the middle of the 2012 season. Kendrick, traded to the Dodgers before this season, said Greinke has surprised him with his athleticism.
“It’s been phenomenal, man,” Kendrick said. “It’s fun to get behind him and play some D and watch him work on the mound. Because his defense on the mound is . . . I knew he could play D, but I’ve been pretty impressed. He’s like a little shortstop up the middle.
“It’s been fun to watch him work.”
Kendrick was involved in both of the Dodgers’ runs.
The f irst was scored in the f ifth inning, which Jimmy Rollins led off with an infield single. Rollins advanced to second base on a balk by Marlins starter Jose Urena and was bunted over to third by Greinke. Joc Pederson walked, after which Kendrick hit a ground ball that appeared destined to result in an inning- ending double play.
But Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria’s throw forced Justin Bour to take his foot off f irst base. Kendrick was safe at f irst and Rollins scored.
“That’s why you hustle, keep playing,” Kendrick said.
The Dodgers doubled their lead to 2- 0 in the seventh inning when Adrian Gonzalez doubled in Kendrick from f irst base. Kendrick had reached base on a walk.
Kendrick was pleased the Dodgers could get Greinke his long- awaited sixth victory.
“That’s the game,” Ken- drick said. “You can go all year and certain guys get more runs than others, but it’s not like we go out as players and go, ‘ We’re going to score more runs today.’ ”