LOS ANGELES -- Zack Greinke is in midseason form. Goran Dragic Jersey . 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. James Johnson Heat Jersey . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. KZ Okpala Heat Jersey . Halak did not get the start in the Washington Capitals Tuesday night game against the St. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/Kyle-Alexander-City-Edition-Jersey/ . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year.TORONTO - Connor McDavid will be out five to six weeks with a fractured bone in his right hand, an injury that could put his participation for Canada in the world junior championship in doubt. The Erie Otters announced Wednesday afternoon that McDavid suffered a fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone in a fight Tuesday night with Mississaugas Bryson Cianfrone when he missed and hit the top of the boards. The fractured bone extends from the base of the pinkie finger to the wrist. McDavid will not require surgery. The 17-year-old junior hockey phenom saw a hand specialist in Toronto after X-rays after Tuesdays game were not definitive. Six weeks from Wednesday falls on Dec. 24. We kind of thought that there was a chance it would be like that, Otters owner and general manager Sherry Bassin said in a phone interview. We were hoping theyd say four. McDavid will almost certainly miss Canadas world junior camp in mid-December. Hockey Canada must finalize its roster for the tournament Dec. 25, and the team plays its first game Dec. 26 in Montreal against Slovakia. Bassin told Hockey Canada he was confident McDavid would be ready to play in the tournament. Lets be honest, hes one of the best players in the world, Bassin said. Theyre pulling for him. They want him to be ready, all of Canada wants him to be ready. The whole country that follows hockey wants Connor McDavid to be ready. Reached by phone at his hotel in Regina before official word of a time frame, Canadian world junior coach Benoit Groulx said its too early to know about McDavids status for that tournament. He said Hockey Canada would stay in touch with the Otters and continue to monitor the situation There is several weeks before world juniors, so its too early to know, Groulx said. We hope that hell be able to be there, but I dont have that answer yet. Groulx said this isnt the first time the program has dealt with an uncertain injury situation. At the Olympic level, Hockey Canada wasnt sure if Steven Stamkos would play in Sochi after he broke his leg a year to the day of McDavids injury. McDavid was set to play for Team OHL in Thursdays Super Series game against a Russian junior team in Peterborough, Ont., but was removed from the roster as expected. Him being able to play in the world junior tournament is the bigger question. Is this bad timing for Hockey Canada? It is, Groulx said. Well see how it plays out. The day before a game in Buffalo, N.Y., last month, McDavid said he didnt consider himself a lock to make Canadas world junior team despite being a sure bet to go first in the draft and playing last year at the age of 16. Bassin explained that at the time as an example of McDavids humility. But he also wasnt buying it. If he isnt a lock to be on the world-junior team, I want to see that team play because if theyve got 20 players better than him, they dont even have to play in the tournament, Bassin said. Dwyane Wade Heat Jersey. If theyve got 20 players better than him, they should give them the gold medal on Christmas Day. McDavid, who wears the C for Erie, is considered among the candidates to be Canadas captain. The Newmarket, Ont., native leads the Ontario Hockey League with 16 goals and 35 assists in just 18 games this season. The Otters lead the Western Conference with a 16-1-1 record. His injury ignited debate around hockey about whether star players should be fighting. This was officially McDavids second fight of the season, though he did not throw any punches. Thats in line with Otters protocol for McDavid, which Bassin said in multiple radio interviews was for him to hug opposing players and wrap them up rather than throw punches. We didnt instruct him not to fight, Bassin said on the phone. This is an action with a reaction. Popular CBC personality Don Cherry, normally a fan of fights, said on Global News that theres no way (McDavid) shouldve ever been fighting. He added that when he coached the Boston Bruins he wouldnt allow star defenceman Brad Park to drop the gloves. Current Boston coach Claude Julien said McDavid would have been praised for fighting had he not been hurt. I dont think this is a guy that goes out and does it all the time, Julien said at the Bruins morning skate before their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those things are going to happen, unfortunately. For a guy like him, hes trying to show that hell do whatever it takes to be a help to his hockey club. Leafs centre Nazem Kadri, himself a top prospect in the OHL a few years ago, knows what its like to get targeted. He called McDavids injury a freak accident. Obviously its unfortunate that that happened, Kadri said. Good for him for standing up for himself. ... You dont like to see it, but theres that compete level, especially in every young star, that enoughs enough and youre sick and tired of getting abused. Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly said the key was not to get caught up in fighting but that its what happens in hockey and you deal with it. Bruins defenceman Dennis Seidenberg said it was up to McDavid to decide to fight. Im sure he could have got out of it if he wanted to, but sometimes the ego takes over, and you just dont think about getting hurt, Seidenberg said. I mean, Im not a fighter, but once in a blue moon it happens. And you just dont think about getting hurt. McDavids injury hurts the Otters in the immediate future and could put a dent in Canadas chances of ending its world-junior gold-medal drought. But Bruins forward Milan Lucic isnt worried about McDavid in the long term. To be perfectly honest I dont think its really going to hurt his chances of going first or second in the draft, Lucic said. Hes got a long time still to recover and to get himself back to finish off the year. ' ' '