[June 18, 2014]LOS ANGELES -- When the going got
tough, Zack Greinke got going with his best stuff.
Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Carlos Triunfel homered to guide
Greinke and the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the
Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.
Greinke produced another strong outing as the Dodgers (39-34)
captured their fourth win in five games. The Rockies (34-37) dropped
their second in a row.
Greinke (9-3) gave up a run on six hits, with five strikeouts and
two walks, in six innings. He threw a season-high 117 pitches (74
strikes).
"It was definitely a tough game," said Greinke, who is tied for the
National League lead in wins with Alfredo Simon of the Cincinnati
Reds and Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals. "They got guys
on base it seemed like every inning and lot of foul balls, a lot of
two-strike counts where they were fighting stuff off. That gets
really tough."
Colorado manager Walt Weiss said the perseverance is what makes
Greinke one of the best in the game.
"That's what the real good ones do," Weiss said. "When they get in
some trouble, they bend and don't break."
Closer Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 16th
consecutive save and 20th overall.
Ramirez, the Dodgers' shortstop, drilled a 1-1 pitch from
right-hander Jhoulys Chacin for a two-run homer to right field with
two outs in the third inning to break up a scoreless contest. It was
Ramirez's 11th home run of the season.
Kemp, Los Angeles' left fielder, hit a solo blast -- his seventh
homer -- to left leading off the fourth for a 3-0 lead. It was
Kemp's 164th career home run, moving him past Raul Mondesi for sixth
place on the all-time Los Angeles Dodgers list.
"Honestly, I didn't know when I hit the home run that that was what
it was," Kemp said of the milestone. "To be named with a guy like
that, a guy who had so much success and an All-Star is definitely
humbling. I'm excited about it."
The Rockies loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth after singles
by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and center fielder Drew Stubbs and a
walk to first baseman Justin Morneau. Catcher Wilin Rosario's
sacrifice fly to right scored Tulowitzki, but Greinke struck out
third baseman Ryan Wheeler and retired second baseman DJ LeMahieu,
who fouled off several two-strike pitches, on a comebacker to
preserve a 3-1 lead.
"I threw like 15 straight fastballs it seemed like," Greinke said.
"He just kept getting closer and closer to hitting it fair. Then I
threw a slider and got a ground ball."
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases with two
outs after center fielder Andre Ethier reached on an error, catcher
A.J. Ellis walked and third baseman Miguel Rojas hit an infield
single. However, Chacin forced pinch hitter Justin Turner to pop out
to short to end the threat.
Chacin (1-5) gave up three runs on seven hits, with five strikeouts
and three walks, in six innings.
"He battled all night," Weiss said. "We just didn't get the big hit.
I thought we had a nice approach offensively, but we didn't get the
big hit to have a big inning.
"For the most part, (it) was similar to his last outing. He grinded
through it, and that's what he does. He's a great competitor. That's
a nice outing from Jhoulys. He certainly gave us a chance."
The Rockies closed within 3-2 in the seventh when left fielder Corey
Dickerson ripped a double off Ramirez that bounced into shallow
center. Ramirez, who was replaced by Triunfel, left the game with a
bruised right ring finger. He is listed as day-to-day.
"X-rays were negative, which is obviously good for us, but we'll
find out tomorrow how sore it is," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly
said. "The fact that he didn't break it is obviously good news."
Triunfel hit his first big-league homer -- a solo shot -- off
reliever Tommy Kahnle in the bottom of the seventh for the game's
final run.
NOTES: The Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings were honored
during a pregame ceremony. ... Colorado RHP Nick Masset was
suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount for
intentionally hitting Atlanta Braves C Evan Gattis with a pitch last
week. Masset began serving the suspension Tuesday night. ... Los
Angeles committed 42 errors in its first 50 games, but the team made
just seven miscues in the past 23 outings through Tuesday. ...
Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (6-5, 4.12 ERA) will face Dodgers LHP
Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 2.93) in the series finale Wednesday night.
... The game drew a crowd of 44,175.
