ANAHEIM, Calif. — Zack Greinke was out pitched by Jeremy Hellickson in his Los Angeles Angels’ debut, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 Sunday.
Obtained Friday from Milwaukee, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed 2 runs and 7 hits in 7 innings and struck out 8. Greinke (0-1) gave up an RBI single to Matt Joyce in the sixth and threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the seventh after Carlos Pena doubled and advanced on a ground out.
Greinke, eligible for free agency after the season, was 9-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 21 starts with the Brewers.
Hellickson (6-6) pitched two-hit ball through six innings, striking out five and walking none. He retired 15 of his first 16 batters, allowing only Maicer Izturis’ lead off single in the fourth. The Angels’ other hit off him was a lead off single by Chris Iannetta in the sixth - a liner that deflected off the glove of diving second baseman Ben Zobrist.
Hellickson has won consecutive starts for the first time since April 19-25, when he beat the New York Yankees 9-4 and followed that up with a 3-2 victory over the Angels.
Greinke, acquired for former Arkansas Travelers shortstop Jean Segura and right-handers Ariel Pena and Johnny Hellweg, was stopped from becoming the third major league pitcher in major league history to win 20 consecutive home decisions.
Angels rookie Mike Trout, who leads the AL with a .350 average, missed the game because of a sore left knee, injured Saturday night when he tried to make a leaping catch against the fence in left-center field on a home run by Zobrist.
TIGERS 4, BLUE JAYS 1
Jhonny Peralta hit two home runs, Doug Fister pitched eight innings and visiting Detroit beat Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep.
TWINS 5, INDIANS 1
Justin Morneau hit a two-run home run, Brian Duensing threw six innings as a late fill-in for Francisco Liriano and host Minnesota finished a three-game sweep of Cleveland.
ORIOLES 6, ATHLETICS 1
Rookie Wei-Yin Chen struck out a career-high 12, Matt Wieters hit a three-run home run and host Baltimore beat Oakland.
MARINERS 7, ROYALS 6
Felix Hernandez shook off a line drive to his left wrist and threw seven strong innings, and Seattle swept visiting Kansas City in a four-game series for the first time since May 2001.
RANGERS 2, WHITE SOX 0
Scott Feldman tied a career high by pitching eight shutout innings in helping host Texas snap a two-game skid.
RED SOX 3, YANKEES 2
Pedro Ciriaco blooped an RBI single in the 10th inning for visiting Boston, which took two of three from New York.
National League
CUBS 4, CARDINALS 2
Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run home run in the 10th inning that lifted host Chicago over St. Louis.
BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 2
Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones homered off Roy Halladay, and Atlanta swept visiting Philadelphia.
MARLINS 5, PADRES 4
Josh Johnson tied a career high with six walks as host Miami rallied from a two-run deficit and beat San Diego in 10 innings.
ASTROS 9, PIRATES 5
Houston ended its team-record losing streak at 12 games, beating visiting Pittsburgh.
REDS 7, ROCKIES 2
Cincinnati won its 10th consecutive and matched its best streak in 14 years in a victory over host Colorado.
NATIONALS 11, BREWERS 10
Michael Morse hit a game-tying, two-run home run in the ninth inning, then delivered a two-run double in the 11th for visiting Washington.
METS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1
R.A. Dickey rebounded from his first loss in three months to gain his National League-leading 14th victory and visiting New York beat Arizona.
DODGERS 4, GIANTS 0
Clayton Kershaw pitched a five-hitter for his second shutout of the season, and Los Angeles finished a three-game sweep of San Francisco to move within one percentage point of the Giants in the NL West.
Sunday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Miami 5, San Diego 4, 10 innings Atlanta 6, Philadelphia 2 Houston 9, Pittsburgh 5 Washington 11, Milwaukee 10, 11 innings Chicago Cubs 4, St. Louis 2, 10 innings Cincinnati 7, Colorado 2 LA Dodgers 4, San Francisco 0 NY Mets 5, Arizona 1 AMERICAN LEAGUE Detroit 4, Toronto 1 Baltimore 6, Oakland 1 Minnesota 5, Cleveland 1 Tampa Bay 2, LA Angels 0 Seattle 7, Kansas City 6 Texas 2, Chicago White Sox 0 Boston 3, NY Yankees 2, 10 innings
Sports, Pages 16 on 07/30/2012