LOS ANGELES
Tyler Chatwood went the distance for the first time in his big league career, and it still wasn’t enough to outdo Zack Greinke.
Hanley Ramirez had an RBI gorundout in the first inning, all the support Greinke needed as he retired his first 13 batters and finished with a two-hitter Saturday to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
“We didn’t get a win, but I don’t think his outing was wasted,” Michael Cuddyer said of Chatwood. “I think he can continue to build off that.”
Chatwood gave up a leadoff double in the first inning to Skip Schumaker and hit Mark Ellis with his next pitch before Ramirez’s grounder put the Dodgers ahead.
Chatwood (5-3) struck out four and walked two in his 49th career start. The right-hander got through seven innings for the first time in 30 starts since July 24, 2011, during his rookie season.
“That was definitely a tough one,” Chatwood said. “My stuff was the same all game, and I attacked the zone. I threw the ball good (Saturday), but that’s just how it goes. You have to tip your cap to Zack. He pitched a good game.”
Rockies manager Walt Weiss is impressed with his young pitcher.
“He doesn’t have to prove anything to me. I already know what he’s all about,” Weiss said. “I think it was big in the first inning, minimizing that inning and just giving up one. He battled as tough as you can.”
Greinke (8-2) struck out nine, walked one and got 14 groundball outs while recording his fourth shutout and 13th complete game in 245 career starts.
“He had a good slider, and his four-seamer was cutting, which made him effective. But more than anything, it was his location,” Cuddyer said. “He threw a lot of strikes. His velocity was good, and he kept the ball down.”
The 29-year-old right-hander, who signed a six-year, $147-million contract with the Dodgers in December as a free agent, improved his home record to 5-0 with a 2.17 earned-run average in seven starts at Chavez Ravine. In his last 43 home starts overall, he is 28-2 with a 2.93 ERA.
Greinke set down the first 11 Colorado batters on just 31 pitches – inducing 10 groundballs and a checked-swing popup to third base by Todd Helton.
“It wasn’t a plan; it just kind of happened that way,” said Greinke, who didn’t get his first strikeout until the fifth. “I wasn’t necessarily trying to do it. I was just down in the zone a lot, and that had a lot to do with why the results were good. I felt good out there. It was a fun game. Both of us were having quick innings, so that might have helped a little bit.”
The Rockies got one runner as far as second, when Helton worked out a nine-pitch walk to open the eighth and pinch-runner Josh Rutledge stole on the next pitch. But Greinke retired the next three batters.
“It’s not like we were being as aggressive as possible. I mean, the guy was throwing strikes, so we swung,” Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler said. “He was throwing everything and was around the zone.”
The Rockies didn’t get their first baserunner until Helton lined a clean single to left-center with one out in the fifth. Jonathan Herrera bunted to the right side for a hit leading off the sixth but was caught stealing on the next pitch by A.J. Ellis, who has erased 18 of 38 would-be base-stealers this season.
The Dodgers won for the 14th time in 17 games, despite the absence of rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig, who missed his first game since his promotion June 3 because of a sore left hip that occurred July 3 at Coors Field.
Rockies rumpus
Michael Cuddyer was back in the lineup after sitting out Friday’s game against third-time All-Star Clayton Kershaw, who ended Cuddyer’s 27-game hitting streak July 2 at Coors Field with a four-hit shutout. ... After Sunday’s series finale, Cuddyer and teammates Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki will head to New York for the All-Star game – each of them an extra $25,000 richer because of All-Star bonus stipulations in their respective contracts. The only Rockies players to hit a home run in the Midsummer Classic were Todd Helton (2003) and Matt Holliday (2008). ... Walt Weiss, who played four seasons for the Rockies at SS, made three errors in a game for the only time in his 14-year career at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 25, 1995. ... Tyler Chatwood has allowed only two home runs on 1,079 pitches over 70 1/3 innings this season. They were hit by Adrian Gonzalez and Juan Uribe in the Dodgers’ July 3 win.
