Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke gives up 3 runs in win over Mets
Aug 9, 2016, 6:50 PM | Updated: 9:02 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke (21) winds up during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke returned from his injury rehab assignment to pitch six frames against the New York Mets on Tuesday.
The right-handed pitcher, who went on the disabled list due to an oblique injury, allowed five hits and three runs, all earned, while walking one and striking out six in a 5-3 win against the Mets.
The D-backs earned a victory for the 11th time in Greinke’s last 12 starts, the lone loss coming in his two-inning outing where he injured his oblique.
Greinke threw 93 pitches, 64 for strikes, on Tuesday after hitting the 82-pitch mark in his final rehab start with Triple-A Reno last Wednesday. He struggled in that outing, allowing five earned runs, nine hits and two homers to the Salt Lake Bees before adding he expected to struggle in his return to the majors as well.
Arizona’s ace didn’t do as poorly against the Mets, though he did allow one home run.
“Today is about as good as it gets,” he told the Associated Press. “Everybody kind of clicked. Starter was semi-decent.”
Off the bat in the first inning, Neil Walker and Jay Bruce hit consecutive one-out singles to precede a James Looney groundout that scored Walker from third base.
Greinke finished up the first and didn’t allow another hit until the fifth frame, efficiently mowing down the Mets until the sixth. That’s when New York regained a 3-2 lead.
Curtis Granderson led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to right when Neil Walker hit a first-pitch fastball out of the park to push the Mets back ahead. Greinke closed out the sixth with a strikeout and two lineouts before calling it a night with the Diamondbacks trailing 3-2.
Arizona reacted with a three-run seventh frame to take a 5-3 lead before Randall Delgado replaced Greinke.
“It just gets guys invigorated,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said of Greinke on the mound, per the Associated Press. “Guys are excited to play behind him.”
