Yankees 3 - 5 Diamondbacks
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May 17, 2016 - 5:34 AM As a Cy Young candidate with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, Zack Greinke was so dominant he didn't suffer his fourth loss until the division series.

Things haven't gone as smoothly since he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The right-hander looks to avoid his fourth defeat in nine starts as Arizona seeks its second winning streak in almost four weeks and first back-to-back home victories of the season Tuesday night against the New York Yankees.

Greinke signed the biggest deal of the offseason after going 19-3 with an MLB-best 1.66 ERA in 32 regular-season starts for Los Angeles. He didn't suffer his fourth defeat until a 3-2 loss to New York in Game 5 of the NLDS on Oct. 15.

Greinke (3-3, 5.26 ERA) hasn't come close to duplicating that form this year. The three-time All-Star gave up four runs over six innings in Thursday's 4-2 loss to San Francisco.

''He gave us four runs, six innings, and gave us a chance to win the game,'' manager Chip Hale said after the 104-pitch effort. ''They did have some good swings against him.''

Greinke has a 7.28 home ERA, allowing 24 runs in his five home starts after giving up 19 in his 17 at Dodger Stadium in 2015.

Greinke is 2-4 with a 5.25 ERA in nine starts against the Yankees, last facing them in 2013. Mark Teixeira is 5 for 13 with a home run and two doubles off him, but Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran and Didi Gregorius are a combined 4 for 24.

New York's struggles continued in Monday's 12-2 loss in the opener of this three-game series. It has averaged 2.4 runs while dropping 10 of 12 on the road.

Teixeira was a bright spot with three hits after batting .132 in his prior 15 games.

The Yankees (16-21), last in the AL East, will try to score some runs for Michael Pineda (1-4, 6.28), who has received a total of nine over his last six starts. The right-hander hasn't won since his season debut despite allowing two earned runs in four of the past six.

Pineda, though, surrendered at least six runs for the third time Wednesday when he walked a season-high four and hit two batters in a 7-3 loss to Kansas City. He's been roughed up in the early innings, posting a combined 12.86 ERA in the first and second.

"He threw the ball so well in spring training," manager Joe Girardi, who pushed Pineda's start back one day, told the league's official website. "For Michael, it's been a couple of innings that really give him trouble. The stuff is there. We know that."

Arizona (18-23) hadn't done much offensively in any inning while losing the first four of this seven-game homestand. However, it broke out with 15 hits while matching a season high in runs after scoring a combined seven in the previous four.

Jake Lamb went 3 for 4 with a three-run homer, Paul Goldschmidt added his eighth home run and Jean Segura tripled, doubled and drove in three runs. Chris Herrmann contributed two hits, raising his average to .406 with 10 RBIs in his last nine games.






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