Yasmani Grandal scored two runs and Adrian Gonzalez homered for the second straight game as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 4-3 on a firework filled 4th of July at Dodger Stadium.
Grandal went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored as the Dodgers won the middle match of a three-game series against New York.
The game featured an epic pitching duel between Mets ace, Matt Harvey, aka the "Dark Knight," and former Cy Young Award Winner Zack Greinke, aka "The Joker."
The superhero effort by both pitchers as they battled each other was spectacular to watch, but ultimately, it was Greinke who prevailed over Harvey, throwing seven innings of scoreless baseball, increasing his scoreless inning streak to a major league high 27.2 innings.
"He's doing what he always does," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He knows exactly where he wants to go with every guy. Zack has got the weapons and he does his homework."
Greinke (7-2) allowed no runs on just four hits with four strikeouts on the day, lowering his ERA to 1.48 which stands as the best in baseball through the midway point of the season.
"It's been pretty good," Greinke said about the first half. "Mainly just trying to stay one pitch at a time. I've had some good breaks with guys on base this year."
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Harvey was effective through four innings, but the Dodgers finally got to him in the bottom half of the fifth when Gonzalez crushed a Harvey fastball into the right field pavilion for his third consecutive homer at Dodger Stadium.
"I just had a tough time finding a rhythm," Harvey said. "After the first inning I was pretty amped up and felt good. Then all of a sudden everything got out of whack and I couldn't find the srike zone, so it was a battle."
Harvey (7-6) allowed three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts through five innings in the loss, his sixth of the season.
Harvey was able to maneuver out of multiple jams throughout the game. The Dodgers loaded the bases twice against Harvey, once in the first inning and again in the fifth inning, but only had one run to show for it.
Alberto Callaspo went 2-for-4 with two RBI singles in the game, in a rare spot at third base.
Lucas Duda hit a rocket off the centerfield wall in the top of the 8th inning off of Dodgers reliever Adam Liberatore for an RBI double. Wilmer Flores followed with an RBI single, cutting the Dodgers lead in half.
Pedro Baez walked a tightrope in the top of the ninth, hitting the leadoff hitter before allowing a single to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. A sacrifice fly by Juan Lagares made it a one-run game before J.P. Howell came out of the pen striking out Curtis Granderson to earn the one-out save.
"I felt pretty confident, especially when J.P. came in," Greinke said. "Seems the tougher situation the better he does."
Game Notes:
51,252 were in attendance for the game for 4th of July.
The Dodgers celebrated the 4th of July with a pregame celebration honoring our nation's military and with a giant American Flag that stretched out across the outfield. After the game, they provided postgame fireworks for the fans.
