Zack Greinke still in top form, leads Dodgers to 5-3 win over Angels

So that fill-in guy, he’s OK.

Deciding that Clayton Kershaw’s sore something – hip? glute? groin? – could benefit from an additional day of rest, the Dodgers pushed him back to Saturday and called on Zack Greinke to step in.

Which he did, in what is becoming his typically dominant fashion.

Greinke threw eight innings, holding the Angels to five hits in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory on a muggy Friday night before a sellout crowd of 53,380 at Dodger Stadium.

Greinke was backed up by a two-run homer from Alex Guerrero – his first home run since June 2 (64 at-bats) – the Dodgers’ offense doing enough damage to chase left-hander Hector Santiago after five-plus innings.

Greinke (10-2), of course, has been on some kind of roll for a while now. His scoreless streak may have ended at 45 2/3 innings in his last start, but he remains remarkably sharp.

In his last eight starts, Greinke is 5-0 with an 0.31 ERA, with 53 strikeouts and eight walks in 58 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers gave him a quick 1-0 lead in the first when ex-Angel Howie Kendrick hit a solo home run nearly halfway up the left-field pavilion.

It remained a 1-0 game until the fourth when Kole Calhoun singled and scored on a Mike Trout triple. Calhoun and Trout each had three hits, accounting for all of the Angels’ hits in the game.

Guerrero’s blast in the bottom of the inning followed an infield single by Yasmani Grandal and put the Dodgers back up front for good.

The Dodgers added two more off Santiago (7-5) in the fifth. Scott Van Slyke blooped a double and scored on a single by Yasiel Puig, who took second on the throw home. Grandal followed with an RBI single, and the Dodgers were up, 5-1.

The Angels got one back in the sixth when Calhoun singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a Trout base hit. Trout drove in all three of the Angels’ runs.

Greinke left after the eighth, having struck out eight and walked one.

Kenley Jansen gave up a solo home run to Trout in the ninth, but held on to earn a rocky 18^th save. Jansen has given up home runs in three of his last five appearances. He had given up only two in his first 22 games.

The victory pushed the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West to 1½ games over the Giants, while the Angels remained two back of the Astros in the American League West.