Dodgers Team News

Dodgers-Giants Game Recap: Greinke Dominates, Kemp Homers Twice In Win

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Zack Greinke took the mound with the Los Angeles Dodgers hoping to avoid being swept by their NL West rival and the right-hander set the tone early. Angel Pagan singled on the first pitch he saw, but Greinke got two strike outs and line out to get out of the top of the first. As has been the case in the first two games of the series, the Dodgers were retired in order and Greinke was quickly back on the mound for second inning.

Giant batters didn’t fare much better in the second against Greinke, as they were retired in order. Two of the three outs were Greinke strikeouts, which moved his total to four. Matt Cain got Adrian Gonzalez to fly out and Andre Ehtier to ground out, but left a pitch to Matt Kemp up and the center fielder hit his first home run of the season to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Pagan singled again in the third, but Greinke continued to otherwise dominate the Giants, racking up two more strikeouts. The fourth inning was much of the same for Greinke, as he got the Giants 3-4-5 hitters to all hit into groundouts. Cain similarly quieted the Dodgers bats until the fourth when Hanley Ramirez extended the lead to 2-0 with a solo home run. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a one-out double down the left field line and he scored on Kemp’s second home run of the game.

Michael Morse led off the fifth with a single and advanced to second on Cain’s two-out single. Pagan stepped in, a perfect 2-for-2 on the day and with an opportunity to get the Giants on the board. Greinke kept the Giants scoreless however, striking out Pagan for his eighth of the game. Cain allowed a one-out ground-rule double to Greinke, but struck out Dee Gordon and got Carl Crawford to ground out, ending the inning with the Dodgers lead still at 4-0.

Brandon Belt got the giants on the board with a solo home run to leadoff the sixth inning. Greinke didn’t appear completely comfortable during Belt’s at-bat, taking a bit of time before throwing the first pitch to Belt and taking time to stretch. Greinke recovered to get the next two batters before Hunter Pence hit a home run to pull the Giants within 4-2. Manager Don Mattingly visited Greinke on the mound and left the right-hander in, who got Morse to ground out to end the top of the sixth.

Chris Withrow came on in relief for Greinke in the seventh and struck out the side on 10 pitches. Juan Gutierrez took over for Cain in the bottom of the seventh and retired the Dodgers in order. J.P. Howell replaced Withrow in the eighth and got the hot-hitting Pagan to fly out to center for the first out. Belt then singled to center and following a Pablo Sandoval strikeout, Chris Perez came in to face Posey. The catcher’s rough night continued as he remained hitless and struck out for the second time in the game.

David Huff retired Gordon and Crawford before Ramirez hit his second solo home run of the game. Kemp and Ramirez hitting two home runs each was the first time two Dodgers have done so in the same game since 2009. Though it was a non-save opportunity, Kenley Jansen took over in the ninth, allowed one single and struck out the side to secure the Dodgers’ 6-2 win.
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