Zack Greinke named National League All-Star starter

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers starter Zack Greinke put up the lowest ERA before the All-Star break in 47 years, and on Monday was named the starter for the National League in the All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday night at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

Greinke is the first Dodgers All-Star starting pitcher since Brad Penny in 2006.

In 18 starts this season, Greinke is 8-2 with a 1.39 ERA, with 106 strikeouts and 20 walks in 123⅓ innings. His ERA is the lowest by anyone before the break in at least 100 innings since 1968, The Year of the Pitcher.

Greinke enters the break with an active scoreless streak of 35⅔ innings. He downplayed the possibility of starting the All-Star Game last week.

"My family might be excited by it. It doesn’t mean much to me," Greinke said on Thursday. "I don’t pay attention to any of that this year, not for awhile, I guess. Since I’ve been in L.A., I haven’t paid much attention to that kind of stuff."

This is the third All-Star Game appearance for Greinke, and his first start. He was the third pitcher used by the American League in 2009, pitching a perfect fourth inning, with two strikeouts. In 2014, Greinke was the fourth pitcher used by the NL, again pitching a perfect fourth inning, also with two strikeouts.

Dallas Keuchel of the Astros starts for the American League. Keuchel is the only pitcher in baseball with more fielding chances (46) and assists (37) than Greinke (43, 30) in 2015.

This is the 15th time a Dodgers pitcher to start an All-Star Game, and Greinke is the 11th pitcher to do so:

• 1941: Whit Wyatt
• 1948: Ralph Branca
• 1959: Don Drysdale (both All-Star games that season)
• 1962: Don Drysdale (first game)
• 1962: Johnny Podres (second game)
• 1964: Don Drysdale
• 1966: Sandy Koufax
• 1968: Don Drysdale
• 1974: Andy Messersmith
• 1977: Don Sutton
• 1981: Fernando Valenzuela
• 1995: Hideo Nomo
• 2006: Brad Penny
• 2015: Zack Greinke