Zack Greinke named National League pitcher of the month for August.

Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for August. (John McCoy/Staff photographer)

The question was not if a Dodgers pitcher would be named the National League Pitcher of the Month for August. It was a question of which one — and if MLB had the patience to present three “specially designed trophies, suitably engraved, to commemorate the performance.”

Zack Greinke will receive the aforementioned trophy after going an MLB-best 5-0 with a 1.23 earned-run average. Clayton Kershaw, who won the award in July, actually posted a lower ERA (1.01) than Greinke in August but had only a 3-2 record to show for his efforts.

Ricky Nolasco went 5-0 as well, but his 1.64 ERA landed him in the “Also receiving votes” category with Kershaw.

Greinke’s .211 (28-for-133) opponents’ batting average in August was tied for the eighth-lowest mark among National League pitchers. He fanned 30 in his 36 ⅔ innings of work while walking just eight batters all month.

The Dodgers went 23-6 in August and posted a microscopic 2.07 team ERA.

Here’s more from the official MLB press release:

On August 5th, Greinke out-dueled St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright to earn his ninth win of the 2013 campaign. The 29-year-old scattered eight hits over 6.1 innings of work while allowing just two runs in a 3-2 victory at Busch Stadium. Greinke helped his own effort with the bat as well, driving in the eventual winning run with a line-drive single off Wainwright in the top of the seventh frame. On the season, Greinke now boasts a .347 (17-for-49) batting average with two doubles and four RBI. On August 10th, making just his second career start against the Tampa Bay Rays (first as a Dodger), Greinke turned in another strong performance, hurling 6.1 shutout innings with seven strikeouts en route to a 5-0 win. He continued his scoreless ways in his following start, tossing 7.1 shutout innings in a 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on August 16th. The 2009 A.L. Cy Young Award winner held the Phillies to just three hits in the contest as he ran his scoreless innings streak to 12.2. In his August 21st start in Miami, the veteran right-hander pitched 8.0 innings of one-run ball in a 4-1 victory over the Marlins. After allowing a first-inning homer to Giancarlo Stanton, he settled down quickly, scattering just five more hits while fanning seven en route to his 12th win of the season. On Thursday against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium, Greinke won his fifth consecutive start, leaving the game just one out shy of his second complete game of the season. He allowed two runs on five hits in his 8.2 innings of work while tying a season high with nine strikeouts on 122 pitches. This marks his second career monthly award, having won previously in April 2009 as a member of the Kansas City Royals.

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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.