There's no question Zack Greinke is one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball right now.
That doesn't mean the 31-year-old right-hander is exempt from an abnormal day such as Thursday.
Greinke faced the Phillies back on July 9 in Los Angeles when he allowed only one hit in eight shutout innings.
In Thursday afternoon's 10-8 Dodgers win, however, Greinke allowed a season-high six runs over six innings and his ERA jumped from 1.41 to 1.71. The six earned runs were the most he has allowed in his last 89 starts.
“They’ve been swinging a lot better and I was looking at their team, their top five of the order — they’re little guys, a couple of them, and they’re younger so you don’t think too much," Greinke said. “But they’re probably up there with the best top five we have to face. They probably don’t get people saying that too often, but I was looking at their numbers and what they hit.”
The Phils scored five runs in the first inning off a pitcher who hadn’t allowed that many earned runs in his previous eight starts combined (see game recap).
The last time Greinke allowed five or more earned runs in the first inning was back in July 2010 when he allowed six runs as a member of the Kansas City Royals.
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“They’re all really solid," Greinke said. “Maybe they don’t have the super superstar like the Mike Trouts of the world, but all five of those are really tough outs.”
Those five players atop the Phillies' lineup Thursday consisted of Cesar Hernandez, Odubel Herrera, Maikel Franco, Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown.
Believe it or not, it was Brown who gave Greinke the most trouble. Brown had a three-run homer in the first inning and an RBI single in the third. He contributed four out of the six runs Greinke allowed.
“Domonic Brown is swinging good now, and really, it’s a tough [top five]," Greinke said. “He’s swinging really well and we knew that going in.”
Brown, who has been struggling this year, has three home runs over his last 24 plate appearances. Thursday's performance was just another step forward for the 27-year-old rightfielder.
“[I’m] just playing and getting more comfortable,” Brown said.
“I’m just playing, really. I haven’t had time to sit down and think about it. I’m here every day making sure I’m ready to play. That’s really it. No added pressure. It’s baseball. If it doesn’t work out here, I’ll bust my butt so it will work out somewhere else.”
Brown and the rest of the Phillies' top five hitters combined to go 11 for 23 with eight RBIs and eight runs scored Thursday.
“Five really, really solid hitters, where usually the leadoff guy is kind of easier or the second hitter is kind of easier, or it stops after the fourth hitter, where with Domonic Brown swinging the way he is, it’s five hitters,” Greinke said.
While Brown had a big day and Howard still has brief moments when he looks like the MVP slugger of old, that group of five is mainly highlighted by Hernandez, Franco and Herrera, the youth movement for the Phils.
Herrera went 3 for 5 with two runs in the loss and is batting .394 since June 28, the second best in MLB to Buster Posey.
Herrera has hit safely in 24 of his last 28 games (.394), raising his batting average from .243 to .288.
Franco has an .842 OPS in his first 307 plate appearances this season. The last rookie to do so was Rays third baseman Evan Longoria in 2008 with a .874 OPS. The last Phillies rookie to post an .842 OPS or higher was Scott Rolen back in 1997 (.846 OPS).
Greinke may have had an off day against the Phillies' now-youthful lineup, but he still came away with the win — improving his season record to 11-2, as he only allowed one run over his final five innings.
“I always feel like you can’t lose in the first inning, you’ve got to just keep them there,” Greinke said. “The game’s not over by any means no matter what, but if you keep letting them score, then the game's over.”
Even more impressive was Greinke’s performance at the plate. He went 3 for 3 with a home run.
Only two pitchers in the majors in the last 10 years have gone 3 for 3 with a homer and both have come against the Phillies this season: Greinke on Thursday and Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard on May 27.
As the Phillies got to Greinke early, the NL Cy Young favorite got to them at the plate.
“Today I was really mad after that first inning, so I was more motivated to try and get some hits,” he said. “Usually I just try to focus on pitching, but we were down by some runs so we needed to put some good at-bats out there today.”