Greinke perfect through 6 as D-backs blank Nationals
Zack Greinke took a perfect game into the seventh, his Arizona teammates hit two homers and the Diamondbacks won at the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Thursday.
Greinke (8-2) had set down 18 in a row until speedy leadoff man Trea Turner hit a hard grounder to first baseman Christian Walker to begin the bottom of the seventh. Walker dived to his right to make the stop but fumbled the ball on the exchange and couldn't make a throw as the official scorer ruled it a hit.
Arizona's veteran right-hander gave up a clean single to the next batter, Adam Eaton, before retiring Anthony Rendon on a double-play grounder and Juan Soto on a grounder to end the threat.
Greinke allowed those two hits, struck out three and walked none in 7 1/3 innings, throwing 75 pitches. He did not return after a rain delay of 63 minutes.
Yoshihisa Hirano finished the eighth for the Diamondbacks, and Archie Bradley pitched the ninth to complete the D-backs' sixth shutout of the season. Washington has been blanked five times in 2019.
Greinke is 6-1 in his career against Washington with seven quality starts in nine outings.
Arizona took a 2-0 lead in the first as Adam Jones drove in a run with a groundout and Eduardo Escobar had an RBI single.
Alex Avila hit a solo homer in the second for a 3-0 lead. Jarrod Dyson, the leadoff man for Arizona, had a two-run shot in the fourth to make it 5-0.
Washington starter Erick Fedde (1-1), who entered the game with 2.93 ERA, gave up six hits and five runs in five innings before he was lifted for pinch hitter Michael A. Taylor.
The loss came in the first of a four-game series and 11-game homestand for the Nationals, who had won 12 of their previous 17 outings.
Arizona is 14-3 in the Eastern Time zone, including 6-1 on its current road trip.
--Field Level Media
