LOS ANGELES (AP) – Zack Greinke won his fifth straight decision, Howie Kendrick homered in his first game against his former team, and the Dodgers beat the Angels 5-3 Friday night in the opening game of the Freeway Series.
Rookie Alex Guerrero hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fourth inning in support of Greinke (10-2), who allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner, who leads the majors with a 1.41 ERA, had his consecutive scoreless inning streak snapped at a career-best 45 2-3 innings last Sunday in a no-decision against the Mets at New York.
Greinke, who spent the final two months of the 2012 season down the freeway in Anaheim before joining the Dodgers as a free agent, improved his home record with them to 23-5. Clayton Kershaw was scheduled to pitch, but got pushed back another day after missing Wednesday’s scheduled start against Oakland because of a sore left hip.
Kenley Jansen got his 18th save in 19 chances despite giving up Mike Trout’s major league-leading 32nd homer leading off the ninth. The Dodgers’ victory, coupled with San Francisco’s loss at Texas, increased their NL West lead over the Giants to 1 1/2 games.
Trout also had an RBI triple and run-scoring single against Greinke. The reigning AL MVP homered against the right-hander leading off the All-Star Game, becoming the first player to earn All-Star MVP honors in consecutive years.