Dodgers' Greinke To Miss Friday's Start For Birth Of First Child
NEW YORK (AP/CBSLA.com) — Zack Greinke's shutout streak is on hold while the Los Angeles Dodgers ace and his wife await the birth of their first child.
Greinke has pitched 43 2-3 scoreless innings, and was set to start Friday night against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said before Thursday night's game against the Mets that Greinke had returned to Los Angeles early in the morning to join wife Emily.
Mattingly received a call in his hotel room at 5 a.m. from Greinke, who caught a flight a couple of hours later.
"At this point we're hopeful that he'll pitch here this weekend," Mattingly said. "To get back to pitch tomorrow would be, I'd say unrealistic, but we do feel like there's a good chance he'd pitch this weekend."
Mattingly said it was unclear who would take Greinke's start against the Mets, but he did rule out the possibility of using Brett Anderson. The left-hander is dealing with a sore left Achilles' tendon. Mattingly said Anderson is on track to pitch Sunday, but would not want to push him up.
Greinke is approaching the big league record of 59 straight scoreless innings by Orel Hershiser in 1988 for the Dodgers.
Greinke leads the majors with a 1.30 ERA. He is 9-2 in 19 starts for the NL West leaders.
Rumors are circulating that Zach Lee could be named the Dodgers starter on Saturday, as the already depleted rotation is still awaiting news on Brett Anderson's Achilles injury.
Lee was recently called up for last week's double-header against the Nationals, but was subsequently sent back down to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The Dodgers have stated that they are actively looking for starting pitching before the July 31st trade deadline, so it is very possible that they make a move before Friday's game against the Mets.
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