Marlins no match for Arizona’s ace
Greinke deals 7 strong innings, drives in a run and even steals a base.
MIAMI — Zack Greinke has long been known as one of the best-hitting pitchers in baseball.
The Arizona Diamondbacks ace can steal bases, too.
Greinke was dominant on the mound, at the plate and on the basepaths in leading the Diamondbacks to a 4-0 victory over the Marlins on Thursday at Marlins Park. The Marlins lost the final three games of the series to the NL West-leading Diamondbacks after winning the opener.
Greinke threw seven shutout innings, striking out six, and went 2 for 3 with an RBI as Arizona (4734) handed Miami (32-50) its seventh shutout loss.
“He was just a handful today,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who managed Greinke with the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He’s able to do some things with the ball and change gears on you. … Our guys were fighting, but it felt like we were fighting with a hand tied behind our back.”
Greinke, who improved to 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA, also snapped Marlins catcher Bryan Holaday’s franchise-record streak of nine consec-
utive runners caught stealing when he stole second base in the second inning. Holaday’s streak fell three short of the major-league record.
Greinke became the first pitcher since Bob Gibson in 1969 to record a hit, RBI and stolen base in two games in a season. He is also the first pitcher in Diamondbacks history to steal two bases in a season.
“I’ve seen him do that and pick his spots,” Mattingly said. “He pays attention and quite honestly can really hit. He’s probably got a better swing than 70 percent of the guys in the major leagues and I’m serious about that. If you look at his mechanics and what he does, and he only gets to hit once every five days, it’s a lesson for all of us. He’s an example from a standpoint of how pitchers can work on their hitting and help themselves win more games.”
After the stolen base, Greinke came around to score on Paul Goldschmidt’s single to extend Arizona’s lead to 3-0.
J.T. Riddle had his first three-hit game of the season for the Marlins. Holaday, who started again in place of J.T. Realmuto, had two hits. Realmuto sat out his fourth consecutive game with a sore left wrist but said he expects to be back tonight against the New York Mets.
Rookie starter Trevor Richards lasted only four innings. He walked two and struck out three, falling to 2-5 with a 5.06 ERA.
World Cup inspiration: Marlins reliever Tayron Guerrero proudly displayed his Colombia soccer jersey in his locker Thursday morning. The hard-throwing right-hander then celebrated just before the first pitch as his native country beat Senegal 1-0 to advance to the knockout round of the World Cup.
“I was able to see the whole game before I went out there and it definitely fired me up,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero pitched a scoreless seventh, his seventh consecutive outing without allowing an earned run. His ERA has dropped to 4.50 from a high of 6.89 earlier this season.
Mattingly credited Guerrero with improving in all aspects of the game, including holding runners on base.