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LOS ANGELES -- Zack Greinke is in midseason form. Cole Hamels is just starting his season. Greinke outpitched Hamels with seven strong innings, Hanley Ramirez homered and Yasiel Puig drove in two runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night. "It wasnt like everything was incredible, but I could use anything in or away at any time," Greinke said. "For the most part, throughout my whole career, Ive had at least two pitches. There have been very few games where I dont have two pitches working, and usually theres three." Greinke (4-0) allowed two runs and five hits while striking out 11 and walking one batter intentionally. Manager Don Mattingly tried to squeeze one more inning out of the right-hander, but lifted him after Jayson Nix drove Greinkes 108th pitch to left-centre for a leadoff homer. J.P. Howell got three outs in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save after the Dodgers picked up a couple of insurance runs in the eighth on Ramirezs leadoff homer to centre and Justin Turners RBI single off Shawn Camp. Greinke is off to the second-best start of his 11-year career. He won his first six decisions in 2009 with Kansas City, when he finished 16-8 and established career bests with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts en route to the AL Cy Young Award. "Hes been a great pitcher. He took off in Kansas City when he won that Cy Young and hes been good ever since," Hamels said. "Hes a true competitor and hes pretty smart. He definitely knows how to pitch, and you know when you have to face a guy like him, you have to keep the other guy from scoring because hes going to do the same." It was Greinkes 18th double-digit strikeout game in the majors and his first in 33 starts with the Dodgers. This was the 17th consecutive start in which Greinke pitched at least five innings while allowing fewer than three runs. Hamels took the loss in his season debut, after missing the first three weeks because of biceps tendinitis. The 30-year-old left-hander made 86 pitches, allowing two runs and six hits over six innings with five strikes and a walk. He made 30 or more starts in each of the previous six seasons, so starting the season this late was an adjustment for him. "Thats in the past. I dont really think about last year or last week. I just keep going forward and try to get healthy," Hamels said. "I was worried about what I had to do -- build up my pitch going and get ready to start every five days. Thats what transpired for the past couple of weeks. Thats kind of all I could do. "I knew what I was going into. It was just a matter of preparing myself just like I normally have and getting ready in a spring training-type setting. It was just a couple of weeks later than everybody else." Puig struck out his first two times up, but lined an RBI single to right in the fifth to put the Dodgers ahead 2-1 after Hamels gave up a two-out single by Drew Butera and walked Greinke. "You can never walk the pitcher. I understand Greinke is a very good hitter, but at the same time, you have to let him hit his way on," Hamels said. "That right there was the ballgame. It decided everything in terms of what transpired in the next inning and it racked up my pitch count right there." Juan Uribes sacrifice fly gave Los Angeles 1-0 lead in the second, after Matt Kemp led off with the first of his two doubles. Ryan Howard tied it in the fourth with an RBI single after a leadoff double by Jimmy Rollins. "One of the keys, where Rollins hit that leadoff double, I didnt even try to keep him from scoring," Greinke said. "It would be really tough. As long as you just limit it to that one run, its not that big of a deal. Thats kind of the mindset. Its been working." Greinke had nine strikeouts through the first five innings, including five in a row after Howards hit. Greinke doubled with two outs in the seventh and scored on Puigs triple off the right field fence. NOTES: Two-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw will make a minor league rehab start on Friday with Class A Rancho Cucamonga as he works his way back from a muscle strain in his upper back. He last pitched for the Dodgers in a season-opening 3-1 win over Arizona during the teams two-game visit to Australia. ... The Phillies have 18 extra-base hits over their last four games after getting none in their previous four -- the clubs longest drought since a four-game stretch in May 1968. ... Dodgers 1B and cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez, whose 16-game hitting streak ended Tuesday, didnt start for the first time this season. He pinch-hit in the ninth and flied out to the warning track in centre with two men on. Shoes On Sale Australia . Kevin Martin and Kevin Love paced the Timberwolves like they do so often. Martin had 27 points with some key baskets down the stretch, Love had his usual double-double, and the Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak with a 112-106 victory Saturday night over the suddenly slipping Dallas Mavericks. Wholesale Shoes Australia Online . When New Zealand finally held on for an 8-7 win, France No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy collapsed to the ground, having given every drop of energy he could muster, and lay prone as All Blacks danced around him in celebration. Few critics had given France any chance, but coach Marc Lievremonts team rallied from 8-0 down and came within one kick of taking the lead with 15 minutes remaining, only for flyhalf Francois Trinh-Ducs 49-meter effort to drift wide. http://www.cheapshoesaustraliasale.com/. Every. Single. Game. Thats 1,230 in total to cover the regular season. The man is Corey Sznajder, a soft-spoken 23-year-old Salisbury University grad who lives in Annapolis, Maryland and has been charting zone entries and zone exits throughout the NHL. I love big projects, he said. No kidding. At the 2013 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, I met Eric Tulsky, who presented research on the value of controlled zone entries (short answer: about twice as valuable to enter with control of the puck rather than dumping it in) and Sznajder had charted a couple hundred games that were included in that study. Shoes Online Australia Free Shipping . Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury. Shoes Clearance Sale Australia . Beckham finished 2 for 4, adding a double in the first inning. Chicago has won eight of 12 to get back to .500 (27-27). The White Sox are 6-3 against Cleveland this season after losing 17 of 19 to their American League Central rival in 2013. Mike Aviles went 1 for 2 with a walk and drove in Clevelands run.DENVER -- The reeling Anaheim Ducks needed something to stop their slide. A record-setting second period did the trick. Kyle Palmieri scored two goals in 47 seconds, and the Ducks netted six in the second to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Friday night. Corey Perry, Daniel Winnik and Ben Lovejoy also scored for the Ducks, who stopped a four-game skid with their biggest offensive output since they scored nine goals against Vancouver on Jan. 1. The teams combined for nine goals in the second. "I wasnt anticipating that," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "When youre struggling and you get a win its just like a monkey off your back and you start relaxing and start playing better." Jonas Hiller made 34 saves two nights after giving up three goals on five shots before being pulled. Jamie McGinn scored two goals, and John Mitchell and Gabe Landeskog added goals for Colorado, which finished 2-2 on its homestand. The Ducks stayed tied with San Jose in the Pacific Division. The Sharks beat the New York Islanders on Friday. Both teams have 95 points, but the Ducks have played one fewer game. Anaheim came to Denver on the heels of a 7-2 defeat at Calgary, its worst since losing by five goals to Colorado on opening night. The Ducks stopped the slide with a franchise record for goals in a period. "I think it was just desperation," Winnik said. "We havent been playing very good hockey and weve been down after every first period. I think we are finally just sick and tired of chasing the third period. Five goals were scored in a span of 8:45 against goalie Semyon Varlamov, who left after Lovejoys shot bounced off the backboards and went in off his right leg to make it 5-2 at 11:31. "We couldnt stop the bleeding," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "Look at the fifth goal. It hit the backboards and goes in." Palmieri had given Anaheim a 3-2 lead with his 10th and 11th goals less than a minute apart. Perry scored his 36th just 1:06 later, and Lovejoy followed with his fourth. "It was one of those things we felt the ball start to roll and just kept on going with itt," Palmieri said.dddddddddddd The Avalanche played four of the top five teams in the Western Conference on this homestand and moved into second place, one point ahead of Chicago, which lost at home to Nashville on Friday night. They missed a chance to move further ahead of Chicago after their worst period of the season. "We just werent good enough defensively," centre Matt Duchene said. "It is disappointing. This was a big game for us." Mitchell, who signed a three-year extension a few hours before the game, gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 12:25 of the first period. Winnik tied it early in the second. McGinn gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead before the Ducks broke out their offence. McGinn and Landeskog scored 38 seconds apart late in the second to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Anaheims Mathieu Perreault made it 6-4 with a redirection past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere 30 seconds later. Tempers were raised throughout the third period. Colorado defenceman Erik Johnson was given a match penalty for a cross-check on Perreault at 2:07, and things flared up after Nathan MacKinnon had a goal disallowed because of a high stick. Players from both teams pushed and shoved in front of the benches, and after things settled down Avalanche enforcer Patrick Bordeleau reached across the partition between the benches to push Anaheims Patrick Maroon. Both players were ejected. It was reminiscent of opening night when Roy took exception to a hit on MacKinnon late in the Avalanches 6-1 win. He slammed the glass between the benches while shouting at Boudreau. Roy was fined $10,000 by the NHL for his actions. "I learned my lesson," Roy said. "I was quiet." NOTES: The Avalanche signed Mitchell to a three-year extension and G Reto Berra to a three-year contract. Both deals run through the 2016-17 season. ... Lovejoy returned to the lineup after missing Wednesdays game with the flu. ... Colorado C Paul Stastny missed his third straight game because of a back injury. He is day-to-day. ... Anaheim D Cam Fowler sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and didnt return. ' ' '