Zack Greinke fell to 12-7 with a third loss in his last four decisions, even though two of the five runs charged were unearned because of the first of two Hanley Ramirez throwing errors. The first inning embarrassment was stretched further with two missed diving attempts from Carl Crawford and two wild pitches from Greinke.

The front end of the Dodgers rotation can’t win them all. Greinke went seven innings in the opening game of the freeway series, giving the bullpen a bit of a rest after throwing nearly 15 innings in the three game series with the Cubs. Greinke gave up six hits, five of those coming in a four run first inning for the Angels. After getting knocked around in the first inning, Greinke settled in and didn’t give up another run until a single shot in the sixth inning. Paul Maholm was placed pm the 60 day DL with a torn ACL, making room for the Dodgers to call up Carlos Frias, who made his Dodger debut. Frias retired six in a row, striking out two in his first action in the majors.

Even with some struggles from the rotation for Los Angeles, the offense hasn’t done its part either. The Dodger bats have scored 16 runs in the last six games, being shut out on five hits in the 5-0 loss to the Angels. The only chance the Dodgers had of scoring game in the second inning when Ramirez led off with a double. Matt Kemp walked, but Crawford struck out and Juan Uribe flew out. AJ Ellis walked, and Greinke flew out to end the inning and end any chance of scoring.

Crawford finished the game 2-4, the only Dodger to have a multi-hit game. Yasiel Puig was 0-4, and received a taunting finger wag from Albert Pujols who advanced to second on a fly ball to Puig, who fielded the ball lackadaisically and didn’t assume Pujols to advance bases. Dee Gordon, Ramirez, and Uribe each added a hit, but the Dodgers left seven on base, going 0-7 with runners in scoring position.

Clayton Kershaw will take the bump in game two of the freeway series, the closing game at Chavez Ravine. The series will then shift down the freeway to Anaheim for two more games. The Dodgers will look for a victory behind Kershaw with the Giants closing the gap in the NL West to a game and a half. 

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