LDN - Sports

Dodgers smash Diamondbacks' Greinke

[September 06, 2016] LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Corey Seager engaged in chess on a baseball field with one of the major leagues' premier pitchers, and he won.

Seager collected three hits, including a double and a home run, drove in three runs and scored twice to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-2 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal each added a home run for the Dodgers, who extended their lead in the National League West to four games over the second-place San Francisco Giants.

Los Angeles pounded Arizona's Zack Greinke, who was making his first start in Dodger Stadium against his former teammates. Greinke (12-5) surrendered a career-high five home runs and allowed eight runs in just 4 2/3 innings.

"He's so strategic with everything he throws," Seager said of Greinke. "It's almost fun to play with him. You know everything has a purpose. It's kind of like a chess match. It's fun to have those at-bats where guys are doing stuff on purpose to throw other pitches."

Greinke now permitted 21 home runs this season, his highest total since 2008, when he was with the Kansas City Royals.

"His fastball command has not been what he has wanted, if you ask him," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "He was trying to locate the ball, and it just wasn't there. The ball was really tracking back toward the middle of the plate."

Dodgers right-hander starter Kenta Maeda (14-8) earned his fifth victory in his past six starts. Maeda amassed eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings while permitting just one run, one walk and three hits.

After allowing the Diamondbacks' Jean Segura to start the game with a single, Maeda registered 18 successive outs, including 15 consecutive batters between the second and sixth innings.

When reliever Louis Coleman replaced Maeda in the top of the seventh, the Japanese right-hander received a standing ovation while being serenaded by The Animals' 1964 hit, "The House Of The Rising Sun."

That response provided a sharp contrast with the reception Greinke received. Greinke signed a six-year contract worth $206.5 million with Arizona in December after spending three seasons with the Dodgers, who signed Maeda a month later.

Fans booed Greinke loudly while the starting lineup was announced after greeting the rest of the Diamondbacks with silence, and jeered him again when he went to the plate for the first time in the third inning.

Greinke retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced before the hosts took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Seager began the inning by lining a double off the base of the fence down the right field line. One out later. Gonzalez propelled a rising 92 mph fastball into the stands down that foul line for his 17th home run of the year.

"More times than not, you're going to get him out with that pitch," Greinke said. "He's one of the few guys that can actually get to it. I wasn't completely shocked that he did what he did with it."

In the fifth, the Dodgers rocked Greinke for four more homers in building an 8-0 lead. Pederson started the rally with one out by sending Greinke's 86 mph slider over the center field fence for his 20th home run.

Maeda and Chase Utley (2-for-5) followed with singles, then Seager sent an 89 mph changeup into the first row of the bleachers in left-center field for a three-run drive, his 24th homer this year.

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Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (5) and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (23) celebrate the 10-2 victory against Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sport

"For the most part, we know he's not going to make mistakes," Gonzalez said in reference to Greinke. "We all just hung out on our pitch. We knew that he was going to keep mixing it up and go to that pitch. We just couldn't miss it."

Turner, the next batter, went a few rows better. Turner earned his 25th homer by depositing Greinke's 92 mph fastball halfway up the bleachers in left-center field. One out later, Grandal hit another 92 mph fastball inside the right field foul pole for his 25th to chase Greinke.

"Usually, he's able to get out of those innings and stop the bleeding," Hale said. "I was surprised he couldn't."

The former Dodger received another chorus of boos when he walked back to Arizona's dugout. He conceded nine hits and finished with six strikeouts and no walks.

When asked about the fans' reaction, Greinke replied, "I don't really think about it anymore."

Arizona broke the shutout in seventh. Chris Owings (2-for-4) lined a leadoff single to right field, took second base when Paul Goldschmidt walked with one out and scored when Jake Lamb bounced a single past a diving Utley at second base.

In the top of eighth, Owings' double brought pinch hitter Phil Gosselin. Los Angeles responded in the bottom of the inning with two extra runs. Josh Reddick scored on a wild pitch, and Utley hit an RBI single.

NOTES: Arizona 2B Jean Segura is the first player in team history to collect at least 30 hits in each of a season's first five months. Luis Gonzalez was the first Diamondbacks player to register at least 30 hits a month for five successive months between May-September 2000. ... Diamondbacks C Welington Castillo's streak of driving in at least one run in five games ended as he went 0-for-4 on Monday. ... Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke is one of five pitchers to win at least eight successive starts at Dodger Stadium. Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax won 10 in succession in 1964. ... Los Angeles recalled LHP Luis Avilan from Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy (right hip stiffness) made a rehab start for Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Monday, and he allowed 10 runs (five earned) on nine hits in four innings.

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