The Dodger bats came alive on Tuesday as they cruised to a 9-3 victory over Arizona. Zack Greinke had a fantastic outing and several injured Dodgers returned to the lineup in the offensive outburst.
Greinke tossed six innings, giving up six hits and one walk for two runs, with one strikeout. He started the game giving up back-to-back singles, but retired the next nine batters he faced.
In the fourth he gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, and let one run score. He also gave up a solo home run to Aaron Hill in the sixth.
Greinke hardly made it out of the sixth inning, needing 30 pitches to do so. He finished with 107 pitches, which is somewhat high for that early, but 75 were strikes so he had good command throughout the game.
The Dodgers had a nearly complete lineup, and gave Grienke eight runs of support. There was no Alex Castellanos, Nick Buss, or Nick Punto in the lineup, instead we got Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez.
Seeing Kemp's name slated to start in center field was pretty scary since he was questionable to get activated, and was not allowed to run the bases on Monday. He proved he can still play ball, going 4-4 with two double, two singles and three RBIs. He drove in the first runs of the game with a two-run double in the first inning.
Kemp was removed in the seventh inning, quelling fears of him being overused early and provoking another injury. The Dodgers should maintain this cautious approach in the early stages of his return.
After Kemp's two-run double in the first, Juan Uribe followed with a two-run homer that rocketed into the left field stands, putting the Dodgers up 4-0.
Adrian Gonzalez gave them two more runs in the third on a home run, and RBI singles from Mark Ellis and Matt Kemp made it 8-0 by the fourth inning. They scored their ninth and final run in the eighth on a RBI triple from Michael Young.
The win snapped their four-game losing streak, puts their magic number at one, and keeps them just two games behind the Braves for the best record in the National League. Stephen Fife takes the mound on Wednesday with the chance to clinch the NL West.
