Dodgers 3, Nationals 1
LOS ANGELES -- Zack Greinke was everything the Los Angeles Dodgers hoped for Wednesday, and their offense was just potent enough to make him a winner in his first start in a month.
For one night, everything was right with the Dodgers as they beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 at Dodger Stadium for their second win in a row.
When Greinke was last seen in a big-league game, he was bracing himself for the arrival of charging Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin at the lip of the mound at Petco Park in San Diego.
Greinke had just hit Quentin with a pitch, and according to Quentin, compounded the situation by saying something to him.
A fight followed, and Greinke wound up with a fractured left clavicle and a spot on the disabled list.
He returned weeks earlier than expected Wednesday, and while he wasn't prepared to go deep into the game, he was more than ready to put the Dodgers in position to win the game.
Greinke (2-0) pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball. He was lifted before facing Adam LaRoche, who homered off him in the top of the fourth.
Aside from the LaRoche blast, the Dodgers right-hander was mostly effective while giving up five hits and striking out four on 83 pitches, including 50 strikes.
Greinke left with a 2-1 lead thanks to Adrian Gonzalez's single in the first that scored Matt Kemp, who hit a ground-rule double, and the pitcher's own second-inning single that scored Andre Ethier.
Pinch hitter Carl Crawford knocked in the game's final run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly.
Nationals starter Ross Detwiler (2-4) lasted just three innings before being lifted. There was no initial injury report, but in the bottom of the third Washington trainers came out to check him after a play at third in which he seemed to tweak something. He gave up two runs and six hits.
NOTES: RF Bryce Harper was out of the Washington lineup for the second straight game after colliding with the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium on Monday. The Nationals insist Harper did not suffer a concussion in the collision, and he's twice undergone a Sport Concussion Assessment Tool test administered by an outside doctor. Unlike Tuesday, when he complained of nausea and was held out of all activities, Harper took a normal batting practice Wednesday and warmed up with his teammates. Washington manager Davey Johnson said Harper could be available for a pinch-hit assignment and hinted he could return to the lineup Thursday in San Diego. ... To make room for Greinke's return, the Dodgers put RHP Josh Beckett on the DL retroactive to May 14 with a strained right groin. Beckett tweaked the groin Monday against the Nationals, and it had not improved by Wednesday. "If he had walked in the next day going, 'I don't really feel this at all. I can go play catch and throw right now.' then you'd have a better indicator," manager Don Mattingly said. "But on the second day when he says 'I really don't feel like I can play catch,' it's a no brainer because you know he's not going to be able to make his next start."
