Major League Baseball

Greinke, Dodgers beat Angels 5-3 with Guerrero's go-ahead HR

Published Aug. 1, 2015 1:04 a.m. ET

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Even with pitchers like Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly understands pitching to an Angels lineup that includes Mike Trout and Albert Pujols is a daunting task.

''Every time you go through there, it's kind of like going through Boardwalk and Park Place when they've got hotels on them,'' Mattingly said after the Dodgers won Friday night's Freeway Series opener 5-3.

Greinke won his fifth straight decision after Kershaw was pushed back a day in the Dodgers' rotation. Howie Kendrick homered in his first game against his former team.

Rookie Alex Guerrero hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the fourth in support of Greinke (10-2), who allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner, who leads the majors with a 1.41 ERA, had his consecutive scoreless inning streak snapped at a career-best 45 2-3 innings last Sunday in a no-decision against at the New York Mets.

Greinke, who spent the final two months of the 2012 season down the freeway in Anaheim before joining the Dodgers as a free agent, improved his home record with them to 23-5.

Kershaw is slated to start Saturday's matinee after missing Wednesday's scheduled start against Oakland because of a sore left hip.

''We had some good looks at Greinke, but we couldn't really get that key hit to get us where we needed to be,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ''When we did get him in a little bit of trouble, he made some really good pitches to get out of some jams.''

Kenley Jansen, fighting a virus for the past three days, got his 18th save in 19 chances despite giving up Trout's major league-leading 32nd homer leading off the ninth.

Trout also had an RBI triple and run-scoring single against Greinke

''I gave up just one hit on a slider and Trout got it, so that was impressive. But the triple came on a bad pitch,'' Greinke said. ''I thought I had a good idea about how to face him today, but I didn't execute my pitches to him at all. So it didn't even matter whether the game plan was good or not. I usually try to get ahead of him, but I got behind on him every time - which isn't a good game plan against him.''

The Angels have lost seven of eight following a seven-game winning streak and trail the AL West-leading Astros by two games.

Hector Santiago (7-5) gave up five runs and nine hits in five-plus innings after going 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA over his previous six starts.

Guerrero gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead with his 11th homer, driving a 1-1 pitch into the lower seats in the left-field corner after an infield hit by Yasmani Grandal. Yasiel Puig and Grandal extended the margin to 5-1 with RBI singles in the fifth.

Kendrick, the Dodgers' No. 2 hitter, drove Santiago's sixth pitch of the game into the pavilion seats in left-center for his eighth homer.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: LHP C.J. Wilson was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of inflammation in his elbow. The move is retroactive to July 29, the day after he surrendered six runs and two homers over four innings in a 10-5 loss at Houston.

Dodgers: 3B Justin Turner went on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 27, because of a right thigh infection.

UP NEXT

Angels: Andrew Heaney (5-0) has thrown at least six innings - and allowed two runs or fewer - in each of his first six starts with the club. The only pitcher in Angels history to do that in each of his first seven starts with them was Jered Weaver in 2006. Heaney has 31 strikeouts and just five walks in 40 1-3 innings, and comes in with a 1.79 ERA.

Dodgers: Kershaw (8-6) has a streak of 29 consecutive scoreless innings - not counting his two-run fifth in the All-Star Game. The reigning NL MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner has 38 strikeouts and no walks over his last three outings, making him the first pitcher in history with three straight scoreless starts with at least 10 Ks and no bases on balls. Kershaw will pitch on eight days' rest, after taking a perfect game into the seventh inning of his 3-0 win over the Mets on July 23 and finishing with a three-hitter.

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