Dodgers win 15th in a row on road

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Zack Greinke made himself right at home. Just like the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers have been doing for almost a month.

Greinke pitched into the seventh inning and raised his average to .405 with an RBI single, helping the Dodgers win their 15th straight on the road with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. This is the sixth city during the streak.

“I think we kind of thrive on an us-against-the-stadium mentality,” catcher A.J. Ellis said. “It really brings out the best in ourselves.”

Nick Punto was productive subbing for injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez, and the Dodgers got an RBI apiece from Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis while matching Cincinnati’s 15-game run in 1957. They’re two wins shy of the NL record set by the 1916 New York Giants.

“They’re playing great ball obviously,” losing pitcher Adam Wainwright said. “I knew that going in. I wanted to end that streak.”

The Detroit Tigers own the major league record with 21 consecutive road wins from 1983-84. Seventeen of them came during their World Series championship season in ‘84, tying the 1916 Giants for the single-season mark, according to STATS.

Greinke (9-3) allowed two runs in 6 1-3 innings for his 100th career victory, allowing two hits in the third, fourth and fifth but no runs. Paco Rodriguez earned his second career save with a perfect ninth.

Wainwright (13-7) gave up three runs in seven innings and failed in his third straight attempt at winning his 14th, working seven innings in all three of those starts. He remained tied for the league lead in wins with teammate Lance Lynn and regretted a fat pitch on Punto’s double a lot more than Greinke’s hit off a nasty curveball.

Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig had an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, stifled in the opener of a 10-game homestand after totaling 44 runs the previous four games. They’ve lost nine of 12 overall.

“We score 15 runs and he throws three runs up there in seven innings, it’s a good outing,” manager Mike Matheny said of Greinke. “It was just one of those days we couldn’t get much going.”

Matheny wasn’t happy about Beltran’s first sacrifice bunt of the season after the first two batters reached in the seventh.

“Sometimes we put them on, sometimes we do it on our own,” Matheny said.

Punto doubled with two outs in the seventh ahead of Greinke’s single that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. His relay to the plate preserved a one-run lead in the fifth and denied David Freese of an RBI double, and he made nice defensive plays to end the seventh and eighth.

He’s 6 for 13 (.462) against the Cardinals.

Matt Carpenter doubled off the right-field wall in the first inning and took third when Yasiel Puig fumbled the ball, then sprinted home on Beltran’s groundout when Punto sailed a throw over catcher A.J. Ellis’ head.

Running shoe-top catches by Puig in right field and Ethier in center helped Greinke strand three Cardinals in a scoreless third. St. Louis came up empty again in the fourth after opening with singles by Jon Jay and Tony Cruz, and Punto’s relay in the fifth caught Allen Craig at the plate on Freese’s double to right.

“It was just a perfect relay and (Ellis) did a good job tagging,” Greinke said. “I thought it was a good decision to send him and everything had to be right, and it was.”

The first three Dodgers reached in the fourth, with Adrian Gonzalez stopping at third on Puig’s double off the right-field wall and then scoring on Ethier’s broken-bat single. Puig scored the go-ahead run when Ellis beat the relay on a potential double-play ball.

Wainwright had retired eight in a row before Punto doubled to the opposite-field in left with two outs in the seventh and Greinke lofted a single that made it 3-1.

BRAVES 3, NATIONALS 2

WASHINGTON — Justin Upton led off the eighth inning with a tiebreaking homer, and the NL East-leading Braves extended their winning streak to a season-high 11 games by beating the fading Nationals.

Freddie Freeman drove in Atlanta’s first two runs with a pair of singles in the third and fifth. Reliever David Carpenter (3-0) earned the win by retiring all five batters he faced.

Upton’s 20th homer came on a 3-2 pitch from Tyler Clippard (6-2), who replaced Stephen Strasburg to begin the eighth.

The Nationals again failed to provide much run support for Strasburg, who struck out nine in seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits. The last five times he’s allowed two earned runs or fewer, Washington lost.

GIANTS 4, BREWERS 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Pinch hitter Jeff Francoeur’s broken-bat single in the bottom of the eighth inning drove in the go-ahead run in the Giants’ victory over the Brewers.

Brandon Belt had three hits for the Giants, who won for the fourth time in six games. Hunter Pence walked three times and stole two bases.

Santiago Casilla (5-2) pitched the eighth for the win, while John Axford (4-5) took the loss. Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.

Juan Francisco hit a home run and drove in two for the Brewers, who have lost four of five. Jean Segura and Jonathan Lucroy each had two hits.

Giants starter Chad Gaudin gave up a run on four hits over 6 1-3 innings. He walked four and struck out eight.

Brewers starter Tyler Thornburg went six innings, allowing an unearned run on seven hits.

WHITE SOX 8, YANKEES 1

CHICAGO — Alex Rodriguez blooped a single into left field in his first at-bat of the season, hours after being hit with a long suspension.

It was a nice start for the embattled slugger, but that was it. The finish belonged to the Chicago White Sox.

Rodriguez went 1 for 4 in his first game for New York, but the White Sox beat the struggling Yankees 8-1 on Monday night to snap a 10-game losing streak.

Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 by Major League Baseball in the Biogenesis case, a punishment he is appealing.

That clearly was the biggest story on a day when New York’s Derek Jeter went back on the disabled list because of a strained right calf and Andy Pettitte (7-9) got knocked out early. Alex Rios drove in four runs, Alexei Ramirez added four hits and Jose Quintana (6-3) pitched into the seventh for the White Sox.

TIGERS 4, INDIANS 2

CLEVELAND — Alex Avila’s three-run homer in the ninth inning off closer Chris Perez rallied Detroit to its ninth straight win.

The Tigers were three outs away from having their lead in the AL Central cut to two games before their comeback against Perez (4-2), who had converted 11 consecutive save opportunities.

After Victor Martinez’s RBI single made it 2-1, Perez walked Andy Dirks before Avila drove a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left-center for his ninth homer, stunning a Cleveland crowd ready to celebrate the team’s biggest win this season.

Manager Terry Francona had no choice but to relieve the controversial Perez, who sullenly walked to the dugout after not retiring a batter and heard only boos from Indians fans.

Al Alburquerque (2-2) got one in the eighth and Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth for his 13th save.

Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez struck out 11 in 7 2-3 innings, and was in line to take a tough loss before the Tigers stormed back for their 13th win in 14 games.

It was a demoralizing setback for the Indians, who fell to 3-10 against the Tigers this season and had their home winning streak stopped at 11.

RANGERS 5, ANGELS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Adrian Beltre homered, Martin Perez pitched into the seventh inning, and Texas beat Los Angeles after losing All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz to a 50-game suspension.

Jurickson Profar had a run-scoring hit for Texas, which has won seven of eight to move within two games of AL West leader Oakland.

After Cruz spoke about his doping suspension in a pregame meeting, the Rangers uniformly stood behind their longtime teammate. David Murphy took over in right field for Cruz, scoring two runs but also misplaying two balls.

Elvis Andrus got credit for a two-run triple in the fifth inning when Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick hyperextended his left knee while failing to catch Andrus’ popup to the outfield.

Los Angeles loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth innings, but the Texas bullpen escaped the jams both times on well-hit flyouts to right field.

Joe Nathan then pitched the ninth for his 33rd save.

ROYALS 13, TWINS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeremy Guthrie pitched a four-hitter and Eric Hosmer drove in a career-high five runs to help Kansas City rout Minnesota.

The Royals, who have won 12 of their past 13 games, scored a season-high 13 runs.

Guthrie (12-7) won his fourth straight start to log his 12th victory, which is a career high. It was his second career shutout and he lowered his ERA to 3.94.

The Royals sent 11 men to the plate in a six-run second inning, which was highlighted by Mike Moustakas and Hosmer stroking two-run singles. Moustakas collected two hits in the inning.

Hosmer hit his 12th home run in the sixth with Jarrod Dyson and Cain aboard.

Moustakas, who had two hits in the second inning, went 4 for 5, matching his career high for hits.

Kevin Correia (7-8) was pulled after two innings and 16 batters faced, allowing six runs and seven hits and three walks.

ASTROS 2, RED SOX 0

HOUSTON — Brett Oberholtzer threw seven shutout innings, and L.J. Hoes scored twice to lead Houston over Boston.

Oberholtzer (2-0) allowed four hits while walking two and striking out two. In his first two career starts, Oberholtzer has thrown 14 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits.

Hoes and Jonathan Villar each had two hits for the Astros, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Red Sox, who lost for the second time in their past seven games, put runners on the corners with two outs in the eighth after a David Ortiz bloop single off Wesley Wright advanced Jacoby Ellsbury to third, but Josh Fields struck out Mike Napoli to end the inning.

Fields struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.

Boston starter John Lackey (7-9) allowed two runs and eight hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts in six innings. Lackey has lost three straight decisions.

BLUE JAYS 3, MARINERS 1

SEATTLE — Mark DeRosa’s pinch-hit, two-run single in the eighth inning gave Toronto and R.A. Dickey a victory over Seattle.

Dickey (9-11) went 7 2-3 innings, allowing one run on eight hits. The knuckleballer struck out five and walked two to earn his first win since July 1. Casey Janssen worked the ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities.

Hisashi Iwakuma (10-5), who pitched 7 1-3 innings, took the loss. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out two and walked a season-high three.

Justin Smoak hit his 11th home run in the seventh to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.