Nationals 1 9 0

WP- Greinke (2-0)

LP- Detwiler (2-4)

S- League (9)

HR- LaRoche (4)

Zack Greinke is a quirky ace that mixes location with his pitches and sneaks in that changeup. Greinke made his third start of the year after returning earlier than expected after collarbone surgery. The Dodgers lost their second ace last month in the melee with San Diego where Carlos Quentin charged Greinke, fracturing his collarbone on impact. Greinke pitched a little over five innings, and his only mistake was a solo homerun to Adam LaRoche. The pitcher also knocked in a run in the second inning with a RBI single. The bullpen narrowly escaped jams in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Here’s how it all happened…

Zack Greinke can hit too! Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Zack Greinke retires Denard Span on a fly ball to Scott Van Slyke in left field to open things up in the top of the first. Steve Lombardozzi and Ryan Zimmerman also make out, and Greinke’s return to the mound begins with a 1-2-3 inning.

Dee Gordon is out by a hair at first on an attempted bunt hit. Ross Detwiler throws him out just in time. Nick Punto flies out. Matt Kemp extends hit hitting streak to 14 games with a ground-rule double over the right field corner wall. Adrian Gonzalez singles up the middle, and Matt Kemp brings in a run for the Dodgers as they take a 1-0 lead.

Greinke’s collarbone seems just fine as he strikes out Adam LaRoche in the top of the second. Washington’s first base hit comes on a Wilson Ramos double with two outs. Danny Espinosa flies out to end the frame.

The Dodgers notch another run in the home half of the second thanks to a Zack Attack. Andre Ethier leads off the inning with a single, and Scott Van Slyke draws a walk. Juan Uribe grounds into a double play, and Dre advances to third base on the play. Zack Greinke, who has a stabilizing rod in his collarbone, strokes a single to right field which brings in Ethier to score! 2-0 Dodgers. Dee Gordon grounds out to end the inning.

In the third, Roger Bernadina leads off with a single for the Nats. Ross Detwiler successfully sacrifices Bernadina to second. Span and Lombardozzi both fly out to left field.

In the bottom of the third Nick Punto singles to lead-off, Matt Kemp lines out, and Gonzo grounds into a force. A.J. Ellis follows with a single, and Dre gets on again by walking. Ryan Zimmerman frustratingly robs

The Dodgers got somewhat lucky with the injury to Bryce Harper. He pinch-hit in Wednesday’s game. Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Scott Van Slyke to end the inning and strand all the runners.

After Greinke strikes out Zimmerman, the Nats get on the board in the top of the fourth after Adam LaRoche crushes a hanging 81 mph change  by Greinke for a solo shot. The lead is cut in half, 2-1. Desmond pops out. Wilson Ramos singles to left, but he has to come out of the game with an injury. He was slowly running to first base on the hit. Kurt Suzuki  comes in to pinch-run for Ramos. Espinosa strikes out swinging to end the inning.

The Nationals will go into the pen after Detwiler has to come out with an injury. Right-hander Craig Stammen will come in for the bottom of the fourth. Uribe grounds out, and Zack Greinke strikes out. Dee Gordon strikes out, and the Dodgers go down 1-2-3.

Greinke strikes out Bernadina in the top of the fifth. That’s his fourth strikeout of the game. Stammen flies out to right. Span singles to center. Lombardozzi grounds out to end the inning.

Stammen is still in for the bottom of the fifth. Punto flies out, and Matt Kemp strikes out. Gonzalez hits a two-out single to extend the inning. A.J. Ellis pops out.

In the sixth, Greinke is lifted after retiring Ryan Zimmerman on a ground out. Zack Greinke pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 4 strikeouts and no walks on 83 pitches. J.P. Howell is brought in to pitch to Adam LaRoche. LaRoche strikes out swinging, and Davey Johnson briefly goes out to argue with the home plate ump to no avail. Ian Desmond draws a walk, and that’s the first walk allowed by the Dodgers this game. Don Mattingly will now bring in Matt Guerrier to face Suzuki. The catcher promptly singles to center field, and Desmond moves over to third. Espinosa luckily grounds out to second to end the inning. Phew.

High sock wearin’ Stamman is still in for the bottom of the sixth. Ethier singles after the ball bounces off the glove of a diving Desmond at short. Van Slyke erases Dre’s hit by grounding into a 6-4-5 double play. Uribe flies out.

Paco Rodriguez will pitch the seventh inning for the Dodgers. Bernadina strikes out swinging on a check swing. Pinch-hitter Tyler Moore is called out on strikes, and he walks muttering back to the dugout. Span draws a two-out walk. Mattingly makes yet another pitching change, and he’ll bring in Kenley Jansen to With Lombardozzi at the plate, A.J. throws out Span while attempting to steal!

Tyler Clippard will pitch the bottom of the seventh for Washington. Clippard whiffs both Skip Schumaker and Dee Gordon. Punto pops out, and the Dodgers go down in order.

Kenley is in for the top of the eighth inning. Lombardozzi singles to lead-off for the Nationals. Zimmerman singles to right field, and pinch-runner Eury Perez advances to third. LaRoche flies out to left field for the first out. While Desmond is striking out, Zimmerman takes second. Suzuki flies out to Dre, and Kenley wiggles out of the jam!

Drew Soren comes out of the Washington pen for the bottom of the eighth. Matt Kemp leads off with a single. With Gonzalez at the plate, Matt Kemp steals second. That’s Bison’s 6th stolen base of the year. Gonzalez walks. Mattingly is at it again, and he asks A.J. to sacrifice. The Dodgers now have runners at second and third with one out. They intentionally walk Ethier to load the bases up. Carl Crawford will pinch-hit for Van Slyke. A deep fly ball from Crawford brings in Kemp, and the Dodgers now lead by two. Tim Federowicz will pinch-hit for Jansen, and he hits a little dribbler to end the inning.

Brandon League comes in for the ninth in the save opportunity. Danny Espinosa promptly singles to lead off. Bernadina grounds out. Bryce Harper comes in to pinch-hit complete with a bandage on his neck from the 11 stitches he received after crashing into the outfield scoreboard at Dodger Stadium Monday night. Miraculously Harper grounds out to first. Espinosa moves over to third with two outs. Span grounds out to short, and the Dodgers win!

Brandon League picked up his ninth save of the season. The Dodger bullpen preserved the win for Greinke, although it wasn’t easy. The Dodgers now look for momentum as they leave for a tough road trip. Greinke’s return to the rotation and Mark Ellis‘s eventual return hopefully can add strength to this depleted team.

Tomorrow the Dodgers have off before they leave for Atlanta. The three-game series at Turner Field will begin on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. game featuring Hyun-jin Ryu and Paul Maholm.

*As expected the Dodgers placed Josh Beckett on the DL with a groin strain and activated Zack Greinke, and Crawford sits the last game before an off-day.*

Ross Detwiler-2-3 vs. Zack Greinke-1-0

The Birdman Zack Greinke will make his return from the disabled list for the Dodgers in the rubber game of the three game series against Washington. Greinke is returning after making only one rehab assignment after suffering a broken collar bone at the hands of San Diego thug Carlos Quentin’s cowardly and unprovoked attack last month.

Greinke heals really frickin fast, and I am very surprised to see him coming back this soon. Most Dodger fans are a bit apprehensive about him pitching only about a month after he had a metal rod inserted into his collar bone, but so be it. The truth is we really need him back. Greinke coming back is a huge boost to the pitching staff. The Dodgers have sorely missed him. Welcome back Zack!

Can Greinke show his Birdatude tonight in his first start returning from the DL?- Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Greinke’s mound opponent tonight will be left hander Ross Detwiler. The 27 year old lefty has gotten off to a great start this season. In seven starts he is 2-3 with a 2.53 ERA. He’s whiffed 23 and walked eight In 42.2 innings pitched. Despite his low whiff totals, he’s only allowed three home runs, and keeps the ball on the ground.

Detwiler is 1-1 with a 3.10 ERA in four games against the Dodgers, and 1-0 at Dodger Stadium. He’s held lefties to a .226 batting average against, but has struggled in road starts in the past. (4-16 4.09 career marks on the road.) The Dodgers have not hit him well in the past, posting a .233 (10 for 43) mark against him, with two home runs. Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier are both 3 for 10 against him. Ethier, and Adrian Gonzalez have hit the two home runs.

For Greinke, this is his third start of the 201 season, and he is 1-0 on the year. Before he was attacked Greinke had whiffed ten batters and walked only one in 11 innings. Greinke has done well against the Nationals. Greinke is 2-0 2ith a 1.93 ERA in two games against Washington. He’s whiffed 15 and walked one in 14 career frames against Washington.

Some other notes before I sign off for the afternoon. Last night Matt Kemp extended his hitting streak to 12 games after singling and scoring a run in the bottom of the third off Dan Haren. Bison was batting in the two-spot for the first time since 2010. I remember former manager Joe Torre used to bat him there a lot, you know back when the Dodgers were actually competitive.

Washington is dealing with injury concerns of their own in this series. Outfielder Bryce Harper is still on the mend after his crash into the outfield wall in the first game of the series. He had to receive some stitches and reportedly had a concussion. He is ok, but we doubt we would see him in this final game. Former Dodger Jayson Werth, also know to us as Werth-less is still battling an injury of his own, and is not expected to be in the lineup for tonight. But don’t hold me to it though.

Ross Detwiler looks to even his books against the Dodgers in tonight’s rubber game-Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight’s game is broadcast on Prime Ticket and starts at 7 PM. Stacie will have the recap and analysis after the game. So be sure to check back over here once it’s over. The Dodgers need a win to take the series. Let’s hope Birdman flaps his wings tonight and shows the Nats his birdatude! Oh and one more thing, the Dodgers apparently inked pitcher Jonathan Sanchez today to a minor league contract.

Pending physical, Jonathan Sanchez will sign with Dodgers today. Probably be sent to ABQ for some work.

— Pedro Gomez (@pedrogomezESPN) May 15, 2013

According to sources, the contract is pending a physical. If you remember, the 30 year old once pitched a no-hitter, but succumbed to injuries and lousiness over the last few seasons. He was terrible with the Royals, and then started the season with the Pirates. He was so terrible with the Pirates that they were forced to release him. He was 11.85 ERA in five starts kind of terrible. He also was suspended for six games for throwing at Cardinal’s first baseman Allen Craig. He once had a 3.75 ERA with the Giants from 2009-2011. Let’s hope this is just a move for Albuquerque fodder, and that he never finds his way into the Major League rotation this season. But knowing the Dodger’s injury luck, Chris Capuano will likely have one of his arms amputated or something, and I’m sure we’ll see Sanchez and his unfathomable ERA in the Dodger rotation by next week. Please tell me I’m wrong. And please tell me he’s not going to replace Josh Beckett. I wouldn’t put it past the Dodgers though. They’ve made stupid decisions like this all season long. Anyways, enjoy the game, and Go Blue!