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Puig's slam, Greinke's arm sends Dodgers over Braves

Jun 7, 2013 - 2:18 PM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Its been an impressive first week in the major leagues for Yasiel Puig.

Puig launched his third homer, a grand slam, in the eighth inning and Zack Greinke pitched his best game since returning from a broken collarbone as the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked the Atlanta Braves, 5-0, in the opener of a four- game set from Dodger Stadium.

Puig, the Dodgers' prized 22-year-old phenom, had two hits and is batting .438 with nine RBI in just four games since being recalled from Double-A Chattanooga.

"Puig is in another world. All he does is hit .500," said Dodgers second baseman Skip Schumaker. "He did it in spring training and now he's doing it in the major leagues. This is insane, all I can compare it to is what Mike Trout did last year."

Greinke (3-1) scattered four hits and three walks while striking out seven over seven scoreless innings. The right-hander had not pitched longer than 5 1/3 frames since the Dodgers activated him from the disabled list on May 15.

The Braves received a solid start out of Tim Hudson (4-5), but mustered only seven hits and saw their five-game winning streak come to an end without a registering a hit in four chances with runners in scoring position.

Hudson, winless in his last six starts, also went seven innings but surrendered a run on four hits while striking out five.

"Hudson was outstanding, you can't do better than that," said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. "We don't make many mistakes, but we did today. Hudson was so good, he didn't have one 3-ball count."

Neither team recorded a hit between the third and sixth innings, with both pitchers dealing and having little trouble with the oppositions batting order.

Hudson retired 13 in a row after Schumaker's run-scoring groundout in the second inning, which gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead that would prove to hold the entire way.

Greinke threw 60 pitches in the first three innings, but settled in and was in control until his final inning of work, when he allowed a pair of leadoff singles to start the seventh.

The Braves had runners at the corners with no outs, but Greinke set the next three batters down in order to end the threat.

A baserunning blunder on Jordan Schafer hurt Atlanta the following frame. Schafer led off with a single to start the eighth but wound up being doubled- off while aggressively going to third on a fly ball from Andrelton Simmons.

Puig then put the contest out of reach in the home half after the three Dodgers in front of him reached base. He clubbed the first offering Cory Gearrin served to him over the right field fence to give LA a 5-0 edge.

Other than a two-out single from Dan Uggla in the ninth, the Braves went quietly into the night.

Game Notes

Jason Heyward had two of the Braves' hits ... LA had seven hits as a team ... The Dodgers are 3-1 since Puig was called up ... Atlanta's Justin Upton was 0- for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk.