(SportsNetwork.com) - Right-hander Zack Greinke can stay perfect for 2014 on Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit Target Field to open a three- game interleague series with the host Minnesota Twins.
The Dodgers have lost five of their last seven games, but Greinke provided one of those victories when he struck out 11 batters in seven-plus innings on Wednesday while notching a 5-2 defeat of Philadelphia.
Greinke has lasted through at least five innings in 20 straight starts while allowing two runs or fewer.
He's 3-8 in 18 career meetings with the Twins while posting a 4.74 earned run average, and has won just one of the last five decisions while the ERA has swelled to 6.10.
Minnesota, meanwhile, has won four of its last six.
The Twins will start right-hander Kyle Gibson against Los Angeles after he'd initially been scheduled to start a Sunday game with Detroit that was postponed by rain.
Instead, it's his second career start in interleague play and first against the Dodgers.
He was roughed up for seven runs and 10 hits while retiring just nine batters on Tuesday against Tampa Bay in his last start.
On Sunday in Los Angeles, Brandon Barnes went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Josh Rutledge had a three-run homer as the Colorado Rockies took the rubber match of a three-game set, 6-1, over the Dodgers.
Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-2) was tagged for six runs on nine hits over five-plus innings to absorb the loss. Los Angeles has lost five of its last seven.
"(Ryu) wasn't as sharp today," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "He wasn't as sharp with his fastball, which made him more vulnerable."
In Minnesota, the aforementioned game between the Detroit Tigers and the Twins was postponed.
A makeup date has not yet been determined.
Detroit returns to the Twin Cities for three games in mid-August and three in mid-September.
The Twins have won five of their last six versus the Dodgers, with all six games taking place in Minnesota.
[SportsNetwork.com]
