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 Center fielder Joc Pederson homered and Greinke delivered another
solid outing, leading the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the Giants
at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.
Greinke (15-3) allowed a run on five hits with five strikeouts and a
walk in 7 1/3 innings. He beat San Francisco for a seventh
consecutive start.
"Today, I was throwing the ball where I wanted," said Greinke, who
has captured 10 of his past 11 decisions and lowered his
major-league-leading ERA to 1.59. "I've been pretty consistent. I
think it was really a good game all the way around, every part of
it. They were putting pretty good at-bats against me, but I was
pitching pretty good. Madison was pitching pretty good. Our defense
was good; their defense seemed pretty good to me. Just a really good
game."
Giants manager Bruce Bochy agreed with the good game part, but he
said a called third strike by plate umpire Mike Winters on left
fielder Alejandro De Aza with runners in scoring position in the
seventh inning altered the outcome.
"We had chances there at the end," said Bochy, who was ejected
before the bottom of the seventh for arguing with Winters. "The
double play (in the eighth inning) didn't help matters out. But the
call, that's what's frustrating. Really the worst call at the worst
time."
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt led off the seventh with a single,
ending a string of 13 straight batters retired by Greinke. Catcher
Buster Posey drew a walk, but Greinke induced right fielder Marlon
Byrd to ground out to third on a close play that was reviewed and
upheld.
With runners at second and third, Greinke followed by striking out
De Aza looking before forcing second baseman Kelby Tomlinson to line
out to right to end the inning.
"You hate to see it, but that changed everything," Bochy said of the
disputed third strike.
Closer Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 28th save in 30
chances as the National League West-leading Dodgers (74-57)
increased their lead to 5 1/2 games over the second-place Giants
(69-63). Los Angeles took the series opener 5-4 in 14 innings
Monday.
Greinke limited the Giants to one hit over six innings before Belt's
hit.
"Zack was pretty amazing," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "Very
methodical throughout the game. I could tell he was thinking his way
through it. We had a good game plan going through it, and Zack's
different from everybody else with his consistency and executing a
game plan.
"It was two of the top five pitchers in baseball going at each
other. It was great to see."
Second baseman Jose Peraza scored on an RBI single by first baseman
Adrian Gonzalez for a 1-0 Los Angeles lead with two outs in the
third.
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Pederson drilled a 3-2 Bumgarner fastball into the seats in
right-center to open the seventh for a solo shot and a 2-0
advantage. It was Pederson's 24th home run and his first since Aug.
16, when he smacked one against the Cincinnati Reds.
Bumgarner (16-7) struck out eight but gave up two runs on eight hits
with a walk in seven innings. Bumgarner had his five-game winning
streak snapped.
"Bum, he just made a mistake for that second run there, but he threw
well," Bochy said, referring to Pederson's home run.
The Giants got on the board in the eighth. Pinch hitter Gregor
Blanco and center fielder Angel Pagan hit consecutive singles before
third baseman Matt Duffy added another one, scoring Blanco to slice
the margin to 2-1 with one out. That spelled the end for Greinke.
However, reliever Luis Avilan got Belt to hit into an inning-ending
double play to preserve the lead.
"Both games (in the series) have been good baseball, hard-fought
games," Bochy saud. "You hate to lose (by) one run, but it's just
two good teams going at it."
NOTES: The Dodgers selected the contract of OF Justin Ruggiano from
Triple-A Oklahoma City. The club called up RHP Mike Bolsinger, LHP
Ian Thomas and RHP Joe Wieland from Oklahoma City. RHP Joel Peralta
was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list, while RHP Josh Ravin
was recalled from OKC and moved to the 60-day disabled list. ... The
Giants activated OF Angel Pagan and RHP Tim Hudson from the DL. San
Francisco selected the contract of INF Nick Noonan from Triple-A
Sacramento, and called up RHP Cody Hall and C Hector Sanchez from
the River Cats. OF Justin Maxwell was designated for assignment. ...
Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke and Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner both
batted eighth. ... Giants RHP Mike Leake (9-6, 3.53 ERA) will face
Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (11-6, 2.24) in the series finale
Wednesday night. ... The game drew a crowd of 48,060.
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