Zack Greinke tosses up five long balls in return to Dodger Stadium
Sep 5, 2016, 8:48 PM | Updated: Sep 6, 2016, 1:40 pm
Los Angeles Dodgers' Corey Seager watches his three-run home run, along with Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke, center, and catcher Welington Castillo during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Through three innings of his first start at Dodger Stadium since signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Zack Greinke had allowed just one baserunner and struck out six. Two innings later, the Dodgers had eight runs and he was pulled from the game.
The D-backs never recovered, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 in the series opener.
Greinke (12-5) began the start looking like the pitcher who dominated in Los Angeles for three seasons. The 32-year-old had struck out four in a row at one point.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, but Greinke limited the damage to just that and only a 2-0 lead for Los Angeles. The fifth inning, however, is when it would all fall apart.
Joc Pederson’s deep solo homer to center made it a three-run lead, and that was followed by back-to-back hitters reaching base, setting up Corey Seager three-run shot to left-center.
Two of the next three batters would hit solo long balls, and after Yasmani Grandal’s, Greinke was done for the night.
Monday was the first start in Greinke’s career in which he gave up five home runs, and it’s also his fourth outing in 2016 that he’s allowed at least seven earned runs in, something he never did in his three seasons pitching for the Dodgers.
In fact, Greinke is just the second pitcher in Diamondbacks’ history to allow five home runs in a start, joining Casey Daigle, who did it back in 2004. Daigle served up five long balls to the St. Louis Cardinals in a 13-6 loss in which he lasted only 2.2 innings.
