Greinke sharp, Astros end 6-game skid, beat Astros 1-0

SEATTLE (AP) — Zack Greinke pitched eight sharp innings, rookie Taylor Jones drove in the only run and the depleted Houston Astros ended a six-game losing streak, edging the Seattle Mariners 1-0 Saturday night.

Greinke allowed four hits and walked none. He struck out six, two of them on 67 mph curveballs.

“That's what aces do,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Guys like him ... they stop the bleeding and we're about bled out.”

Ryan Pressly pitched the ninth for his first save, though Baker said he considered letting Greinke go for the complete game after an eight-pitch eighth inning.

“It's fun to watch him," Pressly said. "I wish we had a better view instead of all the way out in the bullpen. It's fun to watch how he manipulates pitches, the way he moves them in and out. We were talking about it in the clubhouse: He's like an artist when he's out there.”

Jones, from nearby Kent, Washington, hit an RBI single with two outs in the fourth. He has been pressed into service after five Astros – including starters Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Álvarez – were moved to the injured list due to COVID-19 protocols on Wednesday.

Greinke, a six-time Gold Glover, made a brilliant defensive play in the fifth when he gathered in J.P. Crawford’s hard grounder, freezing two runners on base, and threw to third to start a double play. Greinke methodically surveyed each base before making the right decision to throw to third.

“There's a million things going through your mind in a short time,” Greinke said.

Greinke finished the game with 2,705 career strikeouts. His teammate, Justin Verlander (18th at 3,013), and the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer (22nd at 2,808) are the only active players ahead of him on the career list.

“Sometimes you pitch and...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Greinke-sharp-Astros-end-6-game-skid-beat-16109465.php