PHOENIX (AP) -- The Diamondbacks had dominated opponents lately, winning five straight. But then Zack Greinke came to town.
The Dodgers right-hander shut down the D-backs in a 6-1 victory Monday night. It was the opener of the first series between the teams since the one that featured the bench-clearing melee in Los Angeles last month, but any drama withered as Greinke took command and never let up. He allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings.
"That is how he won a Cy Young right there," said Arizona's Jason Kubel, who with Minnesota saw Greinke a lot when the pitcher was with Kansas City.
"He has great stuff, and he swung the bat well, too. He throws hard. He throws that hard slider, and it is hard to pick up until it is too late, and his location is big for him. He had it going."
Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said it was just one of those games in which his team simply was outplayed.
"They played well (in) all phases of the game," Gibson said. "They beat us up."
Greinke confessed to a tiny bit of added motivation. After all, the last time he faced the D-backs, there was a benches-clearing brawl that resulted in eight suspensions.
"I might want to win a little more," he said. "That's also because they're in first place, so it's a big game because of that."
Greinke (7-2) struck out seven and walked two. He also had a career-high three hits. He was 0-2 with an 8.71 ERA in four previous starts at Chase Field.
"I've pitched really bad here," Greinke said, "some of my worst games ever at this place, so that was nice."
Hanley Ramirez singled three times to extend his career-best hitting streak to 19 games and was one of five Dodgers with an RBI.
Los Angeles, which has won 13 of 16, tied its season high with 17 hits -- 16 of them singles. Andre Ethier had three hits and A.J. Ellis drove in two runs as the Dodgers pulled within 3 games of the first-place Diamondbacks in the NL West.
"Without this little streak we've been on, who knows what position we'd be in," Ellis said. "We also got a little help from the NL West coming back to the pack. Nobody ran away with it."
D-backs starter Randall Delgado (1-3) allowed three runs and 11 hits in six innings to take the loss.
"He didn't throw the ball bad at all," Gibson said. "... He held us in the game, but Greinke was good tonight. He had everything working. It was the most talented we have seen him in a while."
Arizona averted the shutout thanks to Eric Chavez's RBI single in the ninth.
Greinke was a major player in the events leading up to that June 11 brawl. Ian Kennedy, who hit Yasiel Puig and Greinke with high pitches to trigger the melee and served a 10-game suspension, starts for the D-backs in the second game of the series Tuesday night.
Puig and Greinke were booed roundly when they came to the plate -- not that it had any impact. Greinke struck out four of the first five and didn't allow a hit until Paul Goldschmidt's leadoff single in the fourth. The only other hit off the Los Angeles right-hander was Martin Prado's two-out double in the seventh. Goldschmidt also had an infield single in the ninth and scored Arizona's lone run.
Ramirez and Ethier singled with one out in the fourth. A.J. Ellis then flied out to center, but Juan Uribe singled Ramirez home from second to put Los Angeles up 1-0. Ethier was stranded at third when Mark Ellis flied out to center.
Greinke's single started a two-run fifth that put the Dodgers up 3-0. With one out, Puig singled, then Adrian Gonzalez and Ramirez each had an RBI hit to right. Kubel mishandled Ramirez's hit but threw the runner out trying to take second on the play.
The Dodgers scored two more runs off reliever Charles Brewer with two outs in the sixth on Ethier's RBI double and Ellis' run-scoring single.
D-backs center fielder Gerardo Parra got a big ovation after chasing down Ellis' fly with a lunging grab as he fell to the warning track to start the sixth.
Before the game, the Dodgers placed Matt Kemp on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Saturday, with joint inflammation in his left shoulder. Kemp is to see the team doctor in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
NOTES: Ricky Nolasco, acquired from the Marlins on Saturday, makes his first start for the Dodgers on Tuesday night. He took the roster spot of RH Stephen Fife, who was placed on the 15-day DL for the second time this season with right shoulder bursitis. ... Ramirez's hitting streak is the longest active one in the majors and longest by a Dodger since Ethier's 30-game streak from April 2 to May 6, 2011. ... Outfielder Scott Van Slyke was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to take Kemp's roster spot. ... The Diamondbacks announced the signing of six international players, including 16-year-old Venezuelan catching prospect Jose Herrera. The other five signees also are 16. ... Greinke had allowed a combined nine earned runs and 18 hits in his previous two starts, although he won both.
