Dodgers fail to support Zack Greinke again, lose 1-0 to Cubs in 10th

Zack Greinke was pitching, so naturally the Dodgers did not score. Seemingly they are not allowed when the veteran right-hander pitches. Some blood pact apparently has been signed with the baseball devil.

Greinke threw six scoreless innings and, as usual, had nothing to show for it. He has made nine starts since beginning the season 5-0 on May 5 and been unable to win his sixth game. And he has a 1.79 earned-run average in those nine starts.

Nobody scored until the Cubs finally scratched together a run in the 10th inning on a sacrifice fly to exit Wrigley Field with a 1-0 victory.

Greinke was not as sharp as normal -- he needed 111 pitches to get through his six innings -- and still blanked the Cubs. That happens when you only give up three hits. He also struck out five and walked two.

His record remains unchanged at 5-2. In those last nine winless starts the Dodgers scored a total of 10 runs while he was actually in the game. He’s pitched well enough to be 14-0 if the Dodgers had managed just a minimum of offense.

Instead, he now has an overall 1.70 ERA -- best in the majors -- and a 5-2 record in 15 starts.

But Tuesday the Dodgers were equally ineffective against Cubs right-hander Jason Hammel, who held them without a run in his 7 2/3 innings on just two measly hits.

The Dodgers got a leadoff double from Alberto Callaspo in the third inning, but Jimmy Rollins and Greinke popped up before Yasiel Puig flew out to right. They got a bloop two-out triple from Puig in the sixth but Joc Pederson popped up. In the eighth they got two on with a pair of walks and Puig flied out.

The Cubs finally put together a winning “rally” in the 10th when former Dodger Mike Baxter singled off Joel Peralta. For Peralta, it was his first appearance since going down with a sore shoulder two months ago.

Matt Szczur followed with a grounder that Callaspo could not make a play on for an infield hit. When Peralta walked Dexter Fowler to load the bases with no outs, the Dodgers called on closer Kenley Jansen.

Jansen got Addison Russell to bounce to Adrian Gonzalez at first. After briefly bobbling the ball, Gonzalez threw home for the force. Manager Don Mattingly then brought in Andre Ethier for a five-man infield, putting him at second and placing three infielders on the left side for Chris Denorfia.

Denorfia made it all for nothing, lifting a fly to center where Pederson was still playing. He ran back and made the catch, but Szczur tagged and scored easily.

And the game finally had its run.

The Dodgers have now lost seven of their last nine games. They are 3-3 in extra innings, while the Cubs are an impressive 8-3.