Greinke wins, drops ERA to 1.58
MIAMI — To earn his first victory since May 5, all Zack Greinke needed was a lead.
The Los Angeles Dodgers finally gave him one Sunday, and Greinke pitched 7⅔ innings for his first victory in his past 10 starts, beating the Miami Marlins 2-0.
Greinke (6-2) allowed four hits and held the opposition without a run for his third start in a row, extending his scoreless streak to 20⅔ innings.
In the previous two outings he departed with the game scoreless, and this time he left leading 2-0. Greinke’s reaction when the Dodgers scratched out their first run in the fifth?
“I think I saw him dancing on the inside,” manager Don Mattingly said.
“I don’t think about it too much,” Greinke said. “One run is not too much. Two felt a little better, because then you could mess around a little bit with no one on base.”
Adrian Gonzalez, who had three hits, drove in the second run in the seventh.
Greinke came into the game with the lowest ERA in the majors and reduced it to 1.58. The righthander’s description of his season: “A little bit of luck, and a little bit of skill.”
Greinke has an ERA of 1.59 over the past 10 games but is just 1-2 during that span because of poor run support.
Two relievers completed a five-hitter for the Dodgers’ 11th shutout.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Giants 6, Rockies 3 at San Francisco: Madison Bumgarner pitched into the eighth inning and hit his eighth career homer for the Giants.
Buster Posey drove in three runs for San Francisco, and Matt Duffy was a single short of the cycle. Brandon Crawford hit his 10th homer, matching his career-best total from last season.
Bumgarner (8-4) allowed two runs, on Nolan Arenado’s 23rd homer in the first, and five hits in 7⅔ innings. He also hit a solo homer in the seventh and got his 1,000th career strikeout. Bumgarner is the 13th pitcher in Giants history to reach 1,000 strikeouts.
Braves 2, Pirates 1 at Pittsburgh: Alex Wood pitched a shutout into the eighth inning to win for the first time in five starts.
Jace Peterson hit his third homer for the Braves as they ended a seasonhigh, five-game losing streak. Chris Johnson added two hits and Nick Markakis drove in a run.
Wood (5-5) scattered five hits and struck out eight without a walk in 7⅓ innings. Jason Grilli gave up a run in the ninth but earned his 21st save.
Nationals 3-5, Phillies 2-8 at Philadelphia: Stephen Strasburg struck out a season-high nine batters in seven strong innings to lead Washington to victory in the first game.
In the second game, Cesar Hernandez had four hits, and the Phillies stopped Washington’s eight-game winning streak.
Strasburg (5-5) allowed two runs on four hits with one walk.
Former University of Memphis star Dan Uggla had three hits and Michael Taylor had two hits with a double and an RBI for the Nationals.
Diamondbacks 6, Padres 4 at San Diego: Welington Castillo, Jake Lamb and David Peralta homered, leading Arizona.
Chase Anderson (4-2) pitched seven innings to help Arizona snap a three-game losing streak. Brad Ziegler worked the ninth for his 12th save in 14 chances.
Castillo’s three-run shot gave the Diamondbacks a 3-1 lead in the second. Peralta had a solo homer in the third, and Lamb’s two-run homer made it 6-3 in the sixth.
Derek Norris homered twice for San Diego.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Royals 5, Athletics 3 at Oakland, Calif.: Jeremy Guthrie struck out a season-high seven batters in six innings and Salvador Perez homered to help Kansas City complete a three-game sweep.
Omar Infante hit a tiebreaking single in a threerun sixth for the Royals, who have won five of six to open a nine-game road trip.
Angels 3, Mariners 2 (10) at Anaheim, Calif.: Kole Calhoun scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Tom Wilhelmsen in the 10th inning after Albert Pujols grounded into a bases-loaded double play against a five-man infield.
Johnny Giavotella led off the 10th with a linedrive single off the glove of Wilhelmsen (1-2). Calhoun followed with a hitand-run single that put runners at the corners, and Mike Trout was intentionally walked for the second straight time.
Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon then motioned left fielder Dustin Ackley in for a five-man infield, and Pujols grounded into a 6-2-3 double play started by shortstop Brad Miller. But Wilhelmsen threw his first wild pitch of the season on a full count with runners at second and third and rookie Kyle Kubitza at the plate.
Astros 3, Yankees 1 at Houston: Rookie Carlos Correa doubled twice and scored the tiebreaking run on a triple by Evan Gattis in the seventh.
Collin McHugh (9-3) allowed a season-low two hits — both singles — and one run and eight strikeouts in eight innings for his third straight win. Luke Gregerson pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save.
Tigers 5, White Sox 4 at Detroit: James McCann homered in the bottom of the ninth to complete a dramatic Detroit comeback.
Detroit trailed 4-0 before scoring four runs in the eighth off Chicago starter Jeff Samardzija. Victor Martinez tied it with a three-run double.
Joakim Soria (3-0) pitched a perfect top of the ninth, and McCann’s oneout drive off Zach Putnam (1-3) cleared the fence in left field to end the game.
Blue Jays 3, Rangers 2 at Toronto: Josh Donaldson hit his 18th home run, and Drew Hutchison won his fifth straight decision for the Blue Jays.
Donaldson got two hits as the Blue Jays sent Texas to its eighth loss in 10 games. Hutchison (8-1) allowed one unearned run and four hits in 5⅔ innings. He is 6-1 with a 2.12 ERA in eight home starts.
Orioles 4-8, Indians 0-0 at Baltimore: Chris Tillman gave up four hits in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision and help the Orioles complete a doubleheader sweep.
In the opener, Ubaldo Jimenez (7-3) pitched eight innings and gave up four hits to win his fourth straight start, and Jimmy Paredes and Manny Machado homered for the Orioles. Jimenez struck out seven and walked none.
Red Sox 5, Rays 3 at St. Petersburg, Fla.: David Ortiz, Pablo Sandoval and Alejandro De Aza homered to back the pitching of Justin Masterson for Boston.
Masterson (3-2) allowed an unearned run over five innings to win for the first time since beating Baltimore on April 20. Koji Uehara worked the ninth for his 16th save in 18 opportunities.
INTERLEAGUE
Brewers 5, Twins 3 at Milwaukee: Ryan Braun and Adam Lind hit tworun homers in the eighth to lift the Brewers.
Down 5-1, the Twins rallied in the ninth. Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez.
Two outs later, the Twins got a pair of singles before Brian Dozier looked at strike three for the final out.