Diamondbacks hold on to edge Mets as Zack Greinke wins 3rd straight

Yasmany Tomas homered against the reeling New York Mets again, and Zack Greinke pitched the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-4 victory Tuesday night.

Tomas has gone deep in five consecutive meetings with the Mets, who matched a season high with their sixth straight loss.

The Diamondbacks improved to 6-1 in their last seven games against New York. Of their 23 wins this season, 17 have come at home.

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4

A four-run third inning gave the Diamondbacks a 4-1 lead before Tomas homered into the pool in right field in the sixth to make it 5-2. The solo shot loomed large when Rene Rivera hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Greinke to cut the margin to one.

Greinke (5-2) allowed four runs and five hits while striking out eight in 6 2/3 innings to beat the Mets for the fifth straight time. He got help from relievers Andrew Chafin, Archie Bradly and Fernando Rodney, who combined to hold New York hitless the rest of the way.

– Associated Press

Three in a row

Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke wasn’t unhittable or close to it, like he was his last time out when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

But he was still effective Tuesday, collecting his third straight win once the Diamondbacks held off the Mets 5-4 at Chase Field.

“The last couple games were definitely better than today’s but worked out good,” Greinke said. “Gave up four when we scored five. Gave up one when we scored two. Just good timing.”

Greinke was stellar last Thursday when he frustrated the Pirates in that 2-1 win, giving up just one hit through eight innings and striking out 11. But this go-around, he got into a jam early.

With the bases loaded and only one out in the second, Greinke walked in a run to put the Mets up 1-0 but he managed to limit the damage. He struck out starter Tommy Milone and left fielder Michael Conforto to end the inning.

“They were patient, but I was making bad pitches, too,” Greinke said. “I was trying to get back on track, making better pitches the rest of the way. I did for the most part. Still made a couple mistakes, but got a little shaper after that inning.”

New York tacked on three more runs – a leadoff homer by center fielder Curtis Granderson in the fifth and then a two-run shot in the seventh from catcher Rene Rivera. But a scoreless 2 1/3 from the bullpen preserved a win for Greinke, who’s now 4-0 with a 2.98 ERA over his last five starts. His 46 strikeouts during that time are one shy of his most for a five-game span.

“I know it wasn’t as good of an outing as it was last time, but I thought Zack did a really good job of making pitches,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know he gave up a couple of home runs that had a little effect on his line score, but overall his stuff was outstanding. I think the Mets did a good job of laying off some secondary stuff that enabled them to impact the baseball.

“But all in all, Zack did a great job.”

Owings hitting cleanup

Diamondbacks infielder/outfielder Chris Owings has roved all over the lineup, but on Tuesday he landed in a spot he had never been before in the majors.

Owings hit cleanup for the first time in his career against the Mets, the eighth different spot he’s been slotted this season.

“He’s having a very good year offensively and impacts the ball off of left-handed pitching,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “So I just felt like this was the right guy to hit behind Goldy (Paul Goldschmidt) without having to change a lot of moving parts.”

The designation certainly wasn’t unmerited.

In his previous 20 games, Owings hit .333 with three doubles, a triple, four homers and 14 RBIs. He’s just one home run shy of tying his career high of six set in 2014.

Owings has had the bulk of his looks from the two-hole but has also frequently gone seventh. Earlier this season, he hit third for the first time since 2014 when Goldschmidt was given the start off to rest. Owings responded by smacking his first grand slam of his career, going 2-for-4 in a 7-6 win over the Padres April 24.

On the bench

Ron Gardenhire returned to his post as the Diamondbacks’ bench coach Monday after leaving in April to undergo surgery to remove his prostate.

Gardenhire was diagnosed with prostate cancer during spring training.

While he was away, Triple-A Reno manager Jerry Narron served as bench coach and Narron could end up sticking with the team for the rest of the season. For now, though, he’ll remain on hand during the transition as a major league coach before his status is reevaluated in early June.

Narron will be involved in analytics, video scouting and game preparation; during games, he’ll watch the action from the team’s video room.

“We just like having Jerry here,” Lovullo said. “He’s become a part of this team. He’s developed relationships. Several if not all the players have asked how we can figure out how to keep him on board. I felt the same. I felt like he made his way onto this club, and he was a part of us and it’s something that having him around I take great comfort in. I know that the schedule may change a little bit, but I still rely on him in certain areas and I think other people do, too. So I think that’s the reason why he’s here.”

Hitting coach Greg Gross has been the Aces’ interim manager.

Injury update

Outfielder David Peralta remained out of the lineup for a second straight day after exiting Sunday’s game with a tight right glute.

Peralta was available off the bench, like he was Monday – pinch-hitting in the seventh; he flied out to center.

“He’s feeling better,” Lovullo said. “We don’t want him to play catch up. We want him to get ahead of this and when he gets back in the lineup, he’s going to feel as close to 100 percent as possible.”

Short hop

The majority of the team attended the funeral for traveling secretary/equipment manager Roger Riley’s mother before Tuesday’s game.

“To support Roger, to me it was a no-brainer,” Lovullo said. “We’re family around here, and one of our family members is hurting right now and it just makes so much sense. I was really proud of the turnout. It was just about every player, every coach. Unfortunately, a couple couldn’t make it because of routines or prior commitments. But we went there to support one of our brothers, and it made a lot of sense to me. That’s who we are.”

HIGHEST PAID MLB PLAYERS: Greinke No. 2

Lineup

Gregor Blanco gets the start for the Diamondbacks in center field tonight and is batting leadoff.

Nick Ahmed is playing shortstop and is batting second.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt is hitting third, followed by right fielder Chris Owings and left fielder Yasmany Tomas.

Second baseman Brandon Drury is batting sixth for Arizona, with Daniel Descalso getting the start at third base and batting seventh.

Jeff Mathis is catching and batting eighth for the Diamondbacks. 

Zack Greinke is the pitcher and batting ninth.

Tuesday’s game

Mets at Diamondbacks

When: 6:40 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).

Pitchers: RHP Zack Greinke (4-2, 2.79) vs. Mets LHP Tommy Milone (1-0, 5.88).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

was sensational in his last start, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Pirates before settling for a one-hitter and exiting after the eighth. He is 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA and 38 strikeouts over his last four starts. He is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA in his career against the Mets. … Milone made his first start for the Mets last Wednesday after being claimed off waivers from the Brewers. He received a no-decision after allowing two runs on six hits over five innings. In his career, Milone is 23-21 on the road in 72 career appearances, 65 of them starts.

MONDAY RECAP: Yasmany Tomas blast lifts Diamondbacks past Mets

Coming up

Wednesday: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (3-3, 4.17) vs. Mets RHP Matt Harvey (2-3, 5.63).

Thursday: Off.

Friday: At San Diego, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (3-3, 3.91) vs. Padres RHP Jered Weaver (0-4, 6.05).

Saturday: At San Diego, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (2-3, 4.57) vs. Padres TBA.

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