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Greinke leads Dodgers to 10,000th win

May 1, 2014 - 5:41 AM Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Backed by six-plus strong innings from Zack Greinke, the Los Angeles Dodgers reached a milestone on Wednesday with a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins.

The win was the 10,000th for Los Angeles in the regular season in the majors, as the team joined the Giants, Cubs and Braves in that esteemed club.

Los Angeles' media guide had the team entering the 2014 season with 9,972 victories, but Elias Sports Bureau stated that 13 wins which were thrown out in 1899 due to an illegal player and another rules infraction count towards the overall total.

Greinke (5-0) gave up just one unearned run on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts and has now gone 21 straight starts (18 regular, three postseason) of five or more innings with two or fewer runs allowed, the longest streak in the majors since 1914.

"He was good again against a tough team to deal with," said Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly about Greinke. "They make you throw the ball over the plate and they're going to fight you. Zack just continued to make pitches and do what he does every time he's out there."

Juan Uribe drove in a pair of runs, and Yasiel Puig had two hits, scored twice and added an RBI for the Dodgers, who had dropped five of seven coming into the contest.

Eduardo Escobar went 4-for-4 with two RBI and Trevor Plouffe added a two-run double for the Twins, who had won three of four coming in. Kyle Gibson (3-2) allowed five runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings to drop his second straight start.

"Tough loss and I thought Gibson deserved better," said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire. "He was making his pitches and getting after it, but they put the bat on the ball and put them in the right places. I thought he threw the ball really good."

This game was the first of a three-game set, as Tuesday's opener was rained out and it will be played as part of a day/night doubleheader on Thursday.

The Twins scored in the second inning on an Escobar double that scored Josmil Pinto, but Escobar was nailed at third base on the play. Pinto had led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a passed ball.

Los Angeles answered in the top of the third to take the lead. Drew Butera singled to start the frame and Puig later walked with two outs. Consecutive singles from Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez scored a run each.

After Matt Kemp walked to load the bases, Andre Ethier hit a fly ball to left that looked like it was going to drop, but Jason Kubel made a diving grab to keep it a one-run game.

The Twins got a man on base in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, but couldn't move any past second, and Greinke worked a flawless sixth.

Los Angeles padded its lead in the seventh as Puig started the inning with a single and Kemp kept the frame going with a two-out base hit. Ethier then doubled home a run, and Uribe followed with a two-run single off Michael Tonkin for a 5-1 advantage.

An RBI single from Puig in the eighth gave the Dodgers a five-run margin.

The Twins made it close in the ninth, as Escobar had a run-scoring hit and Plouffe later doubled home two more runs to make it a two-run game. Kenley Jansen, though, got Chris Colabello to ground out and pick up his 10th save of the season.

Game Notes

Greinke, who has won 12 of his last 13 decisions since Aug. 5, 2013, became the first Los Angeles pitcher to start a season 5-0 since Ted Lilly and Chris Capuano turned the trick in 2012 ... Before the game, the Dodgers selected the contract of catcher Miguel Olivo from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned catcher Tim Federowicz to Albuquerque. Also, the team transferred pitcher Chad Billingsley to the 60-day disabled list ... Minnesota first baseman Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 and has hit safely in all nine career games against the Dodgers, going 20-for-34 during that time.