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Dodgers’ Zack Greinke hardly feels at home in 5-3 loss to Kansas City

Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, left, hands off the ball to Manager Don Mattingly, center, as he leaves the game, as catcher A.J. Ellis looks on in the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 5-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday.
(Colin E. Braley / Associated Press)
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Ah, that’s no way to throw a homecoming. Jumping all over your former hero, even letting loose some boos as he’s chased in the sixth inning.

Kansas City didn’t exactly welcome back Zack Greinke, their 2009 Cy Young winner, pushing him around for a 5-3 Royals’ victory Monday at Kauffman Stadium.

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FOR THE RECORD
An earlier version of this post said Zack Greinke won a Cy Young Award in 2005. He won in 2009.
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Greinke gave up 11 hits, matching his season high, all five runs and never really seemed on his game.

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Not that the Dodgers supported him much while he was pitching, waiting until the eighth to finally scratch a pair of runs against Jeremy Guthrie. The right-hander entered the game 4-6 with a 3.86 earned-run average and then pitched like Felix Hernandez.

Guthrie (5-6) went 7 2/3 innings, holding the Dodgers to the two runs on seven hits, without a walk. He struck out five.

Greinke gave up two runs in the second on a solo home run to Salvador Perez and a run-scoring single to Jarrod Dyson. The Royals added one more in the fifth when Dyson singled, stole second and scored on a single by Lorenzo Cain.

They chased Greinke (9-4) with two in the sixth. Perez doubled and scored on a triple by Alcides Escobar. When Dyson’s single scored Escobar, it ended the night for Greinke, who spent the first seven years of his career in Kansas City. He has now lost all three games he’s pitched at Kauffman since leaving the Royals.

Reliever Jamey Wright finished off the sixth, leaving him with 1,000 innings pitched. He became the 429th major-leaguer to reach that mark.

The Dodgers finally got to Guthrie in the eighth after one-out singles by Miguel Rojas and Justin Turner. Hanley Ramirez doubled in both runs.

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The Dodgers added a final run in the ninth when Adrian Gonzalez led off the ninth with a home run against Royals closer Greg Holland. It was Gonzalez’s 13th home run this season but first since May 21.

Holland, however, finished the inning to earn his 22nd save.

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