Losers of two straight and four of their last six games, the Los Angeles Dodgers limped into the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. While Arizona was pegged by many as the favorites to win the National League West, they too have been affected by multiple injuries.
Monday’s matchup carried intrigue as it was the first time the Dodgers faced Greinke since he signed a six-year, $206.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks in the offseason. The two clubs met for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium in April, but Greinke’s spot in the rotation didn’t come up.
While Los Angeles found early success against their former teammate — Justin Turner’s RBI double in the first inning giving them a 1-0 lead — it was another night where the offense largely spun its wheels in a third straight one-run loss.
Greinke labored through seven innings and allowed two runs, one of which came on a towering Corey Seager solo home run that registered as the longest of the shortstop’s young career.
After earning a win against his former club, Greinke dismissed the notion of the game carrying any sort of added significance, per Doug Padilla of ESPN:
“It was probably a little more [fun] than normal,” Greinke said. “But I’ve played on several teams, so I’m used to facing former teams. That really wasn’t much. But the fans were pretty loud today, so that made it more so of an intense game.”
With the Diamondbacks clinging to a 3-2 lead, Greinke convinced manager Chip Hale to leave him in the game as he soared well past 100 pitches. Hale obliged, and Greinke rewarded him by retiring Seager and Turner to strand the tying run at first base.
Greinke finished the night with a season-high 119 pitches thrown. He improved to 9-3 on the season with a 3.75 ERA, 3.39 FIP and 1.17 WHIP. Greinke has now won six consecutive decisions and turned it around after a shaky start to the 2016 season.
