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          Greinke shuts down Padres to help Dodgers to 3-0 victory

          Apr 25, 2015
          • Associated Press

          SAN DIEGO -- Zack Greinke watched second baseman Howie Kendrick glove Wil Myers' line drive to end the second inning with the bases loaded, and then hopped off the mound in joy.

          While it was a rare show of emotion, Greinke did what he does best -- beat NL West foes.

          Greinke held the San Diego Padres to four hits in seven innings, and Carl Crawford homered to help the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-0 victory Friday night.

          "We needed that from Zack," manager Don Mattingly said. "We were hoping to get seven from him. It came at the right time. It gave a couple guys days off out there."

          Greinke (3-0) improved to 21-1 with a 1.88 ERA in 31 games against division opponents since joining the Dodgers as a free agent before the 2013 season. He is 15-0 in his last 19 starts against NL West teams.

          The right-hander is 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA in nine career starts against San Diego.

          Greinke loaded the bases with no outs in the second by walking Yonder Alonso and allowing singles to Derek Norris and Will Middlebrooks. Greinke promptly got out of the jam by striking out Alexi Amarista and pitcher Andrew Cashner, and getting Myers to line out to Kendrick.

          "I just remember being so happy Howie was positioned there," Greinke said. "I thought it was going to be through."

          Mattingly couldn't recall Greinke showing such emotion.

          "He hasn't really shown a lot of emotion. He just grows by leaps and bounds as we move into the season," Mattingly said.

          Greinke allowed only a single and two walks the rest of the way. He struck out seven and walked three.

          The Padres had runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth before Greinke got Cashner to pop up to second.

          "He did a great job," Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal said. "One thing I told him right before the game was, `You execute and we're going to win this game.' Sure enough he did."

          Greinke "threw the ball well," Myers said. "I feel like he got out of some situations that we should have capitalized on. I mean, my ball, line drive up the middle, what else can you do? The guy is standing behind second base. It should have been two runs right there, but that's the way the game goes."

          Los Angeles rookie Yimi Garcia pitched the ninth for his first major league save.

          The Dodgers snapped a three-game losing streak while San Diego lost its third straight. The Padres, who came in tied for the second-most runs in the majors, have gone 14 straight innings without scoring.

          Crawford homered deep into the seats in right off Cashner leading off the seventh, his first, to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

          The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second when Juan Uribe singled in Grandal, aboard on a one-out double. Grandal, acquired from San Diego in the Matt Kemp trade, paused and watched his drive as if he thought he homered. The ball landed in the left-field corner just in front of the fence.

          Cashner (1-3) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked one.

          TRAINER'S ROOM

          Dodgers: RF Yasiel Puig came up limping after running out a grounder in the sixth inning and left with what the team said was a re-aggravated left hamstring. He was replaced by Andre Ethier. In the second, Puig was hit on the left knee by a pitch from Cashner.

          Padres: RHP Shawn Kelley was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left calf, retroactive to Thursday. RHP Kevin Quackenbush was recalled from Triple-A El Paso to take his roster spot.

          UP NEXT

          Dodgers: Brandon McCarthy (2-0, 4.50 ERA) goes into Saturday with a 5-1 record and 2.96 ERA in seven career starts against San Diego.

          Padres: RHP Ian Kennedy will be activated from the 15-day disabled to start against the Dodgers. He's been out since straining his left hamstring during the home opener on April 9 against San Francisco.