Diamondbacks rally comes too little, too late in loss to Dodgers
PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks had their ace on the mound and drew seven walks at the plate.
It wasn't good enough against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kenta Maeda limited the Diamondbacks to a run on three hits over five innings in a 3-2 victory on Friday night. Arizona scored a run on almost automatic closer Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the ninth, but came up short.
Maeda (15-9) struck out six and has seven wins is his last 10 starts. He outdueled Greinke, a former Dodger who allowed only one earned run.
Greinke (12-7) gave up three runs on four hits, struck out four and walked four. The Dodgers' lead in the NL West remained four games over second-place San Francisco.
"My slider was pretty (bad) all day," Greinke said. "So I didn't really have many options after that. I didn't realize I had that many walks until I saw the stats. I felt in control of situations, besides the first inning."
The Los Angeles bullpen held the Diamondbacks to three hits over four innings, with six relievers combining for six strikeouts. Jansen gave up Chris Owings' triple and a long sacrifice fly by Paul Goldschmidt in the ninth, but got Jake Lamb to ground out into the defensive shift to end the game for his 45th save.
Reliever Joe Blanton walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, but got pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks Jr. to hit into a force play to end the inning.
"If he would have walked Weeks right there to get (Jean) Segura, I would have had Kenley come in. But Joe has been a guy for us all year long, and I trust him and he's been there before," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
The Dodgers scored twice off Greinke in the first. Chase Utley led off with a double and took third on a wild pitch. With one out, Justin Turner tripled to right field, just beating the relay throw with a slide, and came home on a passed ball.
Maeda's momentary lack of control in the bottom of the second helped the Diamondbacks get a run. Welington Castillo singled and Maeda walked Yasmany Tomas and Brandon Drury with one out. Mitch Haniger's fielder's choice drove in Castillo, but Arizona stranded runners at the corners.
The Dodgers made it 3-1 in the fourth. Adrian Gonzalez scored from second base on a force when Segura's throw to first for a double play got past Goldschmidt for an error. Howie Kendrick reached on the play.
Segura made up for his error, at least some, by flagging down a ball hit up the middle by Maeda that looked headed for center field and an RBI. Segura threw out Maeda to end the inning.
The Diamondbacks put the first two batters on base in the sixth, but Dodgers reliever Josh Fields pitched out of the jam. Arizona's bullpen held Los Angeles to one hit over three innings, but the Diamondbacks' four-game win streak ended.
"We left a lot of guys on base," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "Too many strikeouts, but they pitched well. Maeda pitched well again. We can't seem to solve him. The one thing we did was run his pitch count pretty high to get him out of the game, but their bullpen is very good, especially when you get to the last guy."
UFC athletes Forrest Griffin (retired), Cub Swanson, Johnny Case and 2008 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo, who is from Phoenix, took part in the ceremonial first pitch and met with fans before Friday's game.
Also, former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight attended, watching the game from a suite.
Dodgers: Bud Norris was originally the scheduled starter, but the Dodgers will go with rookie RHP Brock Stewart on Saturday. Stewart (1-2) beat the Diamondbacks on Sept. 7 and will be making his fifth start of the season. Norris will be available out of the bullpen.
Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (2-11) faces the Dodgers for the seventh time in his career and the fifth start. He is 1-2 with a 7.02 ERA in his career against L.A.
