Greinke leads D-backs over Giants

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[April 21, 2016]  SAN FRANCISCO -- Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Welington Castillo broke a scoreless tie with a two-run, seventh-inning home run off Madison Bumgarner, helping Zack Greinke record an eighth straight victory over the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 Wednesday night.

In winning for the ninth time in their last 10 meetings with the Giants, the Diamondbacks assured themselves of a winning record on their 10-game trip with a sixth win in their first nine games.

Greinke and Bumgarner had dueling shutouts until the Diamondbacks finally broke through on Castillo's third homer of the season in the seventh inning. The hit also scored Yasmani Tomas, who had opened the single, just the fourth hit to that point against Bumgarner.

The blast to left field was Castillo's second career homer against the Giants' ace.

The Giants cut the deficit in half and ended Greinke's night in the bottom of the inning when Angel Pagan's two-out single scored Gregor Blanco, who had tripled.

Left-hander Andrew Chafin was summoned to face left-handed-hitting Denard Span and struck him out to retain the lead.

Right-handers Tyler Clippard and Brad Ziegler took it the rest of the way. Clippard pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, his seventh straight scoreless inning to open the season, before Ziegler recorded his fourth save despite allowing a one-out double to Matt Duffy.

The shutout inning was Ziegler's 22nd straight against San Francisco, the most ever recorded against the Giants.

Greinke (1-2) ran his lifetime record to 8-0 against the Giants, allowing just the one run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

He also improved to 3-0 in lifetime head-to-heads with Bumgarner.

Bumgarner (1-2), who lost all three matchups with the Diamondbacks last season while getting a total of three runs of offensive support, dropped his second straight decision to a former Cy Young Award winner. He was outpitched by Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in his previous outing.

Bumgarner, who carried a no-hitter two outs into the fourth inning, allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one.

Brandon Drury had two of Arizona's seven hits.

The Diamondbacks (8-8), who have passed the Giants (7-9) in the standings, go for a four-game road sweep Thursday afternoon with right-hander Shelby Miller facing San Francisco's unbeaten Johnny Cueto.

Duffy, who had two doubles, and Blanco recorded two hits apiece for the Giants, who have lost four in a row and seven of eight.

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The Giants had the better of the scoring opportunities in the early going, advancing a baserunner into scoring position in three of the first four innings.

In fact, San Francisco threatened right out of the gate against Greinke, using a Denard Span single and a Joe Panik walk to put two on with no outs in the first.

But Greinke mowed down the heart the of Giants' order, getting Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford on strikeouts after Buster Posey had flied to right.

Panik doubled with one out in the third, but again, Posey couldn't deliver him, advancing him just to third with a ground ball to the right side. Greinke then struck out Belt for a second time to end the inning.

A similar scenario played out in the fourth, with Matt Duffy providing the one-out double, Gregor Blanco hitting a grounder to the right side that moved the runner to third, and Bumgarner striking out to end the inning.

The Giants entered the game in a 2-for-19 slump with runners in scoring position.
 


NOTES: The head-to-head matchup of Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke and Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner was the third of their careers, with Greinke recording one win in each of the last two seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... Having gone up against Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw in his two previous outings, Bumgarner became the first pitcher ever to duel Greinke and Kershaw in three consecutive starts. ... The last pitcher to draw former Cy Young Award winners in three starts in a row was Milwaukee Brewers RHP Jimmy Nelson, who saw RHP Tim Lincecum, Kershaw, Greinke and RHP R.A. Dickey in four straight starts in 2014. ... Bumgarner began the night 6-7 with a 2.10 ERA in 16 previous starts against former Cy Young Award winners.

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