D-backs’ Zack Greinke gives up four runs in loss to Houston
Sep 16, 2018, 3:33 PM | Updated: 3:55 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte tries to catch a double by Houston Astros' Carlos Correa during the eighth inning of baseball game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (14-10) allowed four runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings as Arizona fell 5-4 Sunday.
Arizona began the day four games behind in the NL West and 3.5 games back for the second NL wild-card spot. The Astros lead Oakland by 4.5 games in the division race.
Justin Verlander struck out 11 in seven solid innings and the Houston Astros extended their AL West edge, while the D-backs suffer another crucial loss in the midst of a playoff race.
Verlander (16-9) allowed one run on three hits. He matched his career high for strikeouts in a season with 269 — he passed teammate Gerrit Cole, who has 260, for most in the AL.
Verlander hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his three September starts.
Greinke has permitted at least three runs in four straight outings.
Tyler White hit a two-out, RBI double in the sixth to give the Astros a 2-1 lead.
Josh Reddick led off the seventh with a home run and Jose Altuve hit an RBI single later in the inning. Martin Maldonado’s single in the eighth extended the lead to 5-1.
The Diamondbacks scored three times in the ninth after Collin McHugh walked David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt singled with one out. Eduardo Escobar had a sacrifice fly and Daniel Descalso hit a two-run homer off Roberto Osuna.
“We battled, we did what we needed to do to get to that point,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said after the game. “Unfortunately, we lost the game and there were some things early that led up to that early in the game that I felt like things were a little sloppy and got away from us.
“If we did things like we were suppose to do I think we would have had a different outcome, but that’s the beauty of the game.”
Osuna struck out Ketel Marte to end it for his 18th save.
Peralta homered in the Arizona sixth.
Justin Verlander struck out 11 in seven solid innings and the Houston Astros extended their AL West edge, topping the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 Sunday.
Verlander (16-9) allowed one run on three hits. He matched his career high for strikeouts in a season with 269 — he passed teammate Gerrit Cole, who has 260, for most in the AL.
Verlander hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his three September starts.
