Los Angeles

Zack Greinke Continues Cy Young Pursuit With Dominant Performance Over Pirates 6-2

Corey Seager hit his first career home run at home and Zack Greinke continued his pursuit of the NL Cy Young award as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a three-game series.

Corey Seager hit his first home run at home and Zack Greinke continued his pursuit of the NL Cy Young award as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a three-game series.

Seager hit his first career home run at Dodger Stadium when he sent a 90 MPH fastball from Jeff Locke into the right field pavilion.

"It's always fun to hit home runs, but it's really fun when you do it at home," Seager said. "It was fun running around the bases with the crowd, it was a blast."

It was Seager's 8th extra-base hit of his career as the rookie is a whopping 8-for-22 with three walks against lefties this season.

"I don't see the ball any different as I do when I face a righty," Seager said of his success. "It's the same approach, same everything for me."

Seager's 21 career hits through his first 14 games are the second-most by a rookie in Los Angeles Dodger's franchise history (Yasiel Puig -25).

Greinke (18-3) picked up his career-high 18th victory of the season and continued to rack up MVP and Cy Young Award consideration as he dominated the Bucs, a team that he has historically struggled against.

"The Pirates have been a team that when I have messed up, they're ready," Greinke said of his struggles against Pittsburgh. "Usually, I just start losing it every now and then against them. When I start making mistakes, they get me."

Entering the game, Greinke had a career earned run average of 5.37 against the Pirates, his highest against any single opponent. Greinke allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings, raising his MLB-leading ERA to 1.65 on the season.

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According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Greinke is just the fifth pitcher in the last 25 years to go at least six innings in 30 straight games to start the season.

"It seems like every month someone is making up some new crazy stat for me," Greinke joked. "I'm sure it happens to other players and pitchers too. You guys must not have enough to talk about."

Greinke is 5-0 with a 1.53 ERA in his last five starts.

"This is the most consistent I've been ever," Greinke explained. "A lot of things good have happened. I made a mechanical change and two pitches have gotten better. Our defense has been solid this year too."

His counterpart, Jeff Locke (8-11), has been the opposite of Greinke lately, dropping his third consecutive game on the road as he allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits in 6.1 innings.

Dodgers' leadoff hitter Justin Ruggiano had himself a day, leading off the game with a single and a stolen base. Pirates' catcher Chris Stewart threw the ball into left field on the steal attempt and Ruggiano scored the first run of the game.

Ruggiano knocked in Joc Pederson in the bottom of the second inning as well, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI, and a run scored.

Neil Walker put the Pirates on the scoreboard with a solo homer off Greinke in the top of the fourth inning.

"I thought it was a better pitch when I threw it," Greinke said of his mistake to Walker. "But when I look back at it, it couldn't have been much worse."

Kenely Jansen entered the game in the top of the ninth in a non-save situation and worked a perfect inning of relief.

With the Dodgers victory, and the San Francisco Giants loss, LA's magic number to clinch their third consecutive NL West title is down to 8 as the team moved to a season-high 24 games over .500.


Game Notes:
Corey Seager's home run in the bottom of the fourth inning was the 47th hit by a rookie this season by Los Angeles, a Dodgers franchise record.

Tonight was the ninth anniversary of the infamous "Four Homers" game in which Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers off the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the ninth inning to erase a 9-5 deficit. They would later win the game in the 10th inning thanks to a walk-off homer by Nomar Garciaparra.
 

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