Diamondbacks’ Zack Greinke makes fatal mistake in pitchers’ duel

SAN DIEGO – The curveball flipped out of Zack Greinke’s hand and arched downward, parabola-like, toward the lower, outside corner of the strike zone. Greinke hopped off the mound and nodded his approval toward the San Diego Padres’ Erick Aybar.

Greinke was impressed Aybar was able to lay off the pitch, but he figured if he followed it up with a similar one, he might get him to chase. The breaking ball he threw, however, wasn’t barely off the plate, like he wanted it. It was down the middle. And Aybar destroyed it.

Aybar’s eighth-inning solo homer was the only blemish for Greinke and the Diamondbacks in a game they would lose 1-0, a breezy, two-hour, 13-minute outcome that snapped a three-game win streak and set up a rubber match with the Padres on Thursday evening. If the Diamondbacks win, they’ll not only take the series, they’ll return home with a 5-5 mark on this 10-game trip.

“I definitely could have made a better pitch right there,” Greinke said. “It was a tough loss.”

BOX SCORE: Padres 1, Diamondbacks 0

As good as Greinke was, Padres right-hander Jhoulys Chacin was a touch better. With a mix of sinkers and sliders, Chacin was able to limit the Diamondbacks, the team he pitched for briefly in 2015, to just three hits in eight innings. Padres closer Brandon Maurer worked a scoreless ninth, putting the finishing touches on the Diamondbacks’ first shutout of the year, the nadir of an offensive trend that has been developing over the past 10 games.

Other than Tuesday night, when the Diamondbacks exploded for 11 runs while drawing nine walks and taking advantage of a mistake-prone Padres team, their offense has been largely dormant. They did not score more than four runs in any of the eight games prior to Tuesday, and over the past 10, they are hitting .211 as a team and averaging just 3.3 runs. Take away Tuesday night’s game and they’re averaging 2.4 runs in the other nine.

They managed only four hits on Wednesday night and had just three at-bats with a runner in scoring position. Two of those at-bats came in the ninth, after A.J. Pollock singled and stole second off Maurer. But Maurer got Paul Goldschmidt to bounce to third, then struck out Jake Lamb to end it, getting him to chase on a full-count change-up in the dirt.

“We felt comfortable knowing, once A.J. got on, that we were going to have the strength of our lineup coming up,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “Maurer made some key pitches in key moments against some very good hitters so you have to give him some credit.”

RELATED:Diamondbacks starting pitchers on an early roll

It left the Aybar at-bat as the most important one of the night. Greinke threw him seven pitches, none of which were in the strike zone except for the final one, a slider that hung over the heart of the plate. Before that, with the count 2-2, Greinke went to his curveball, a pitch that appeared to barely miss the outside corner.

Greinke said he could tell it was off the plate, though that didn’t lessen his appreciation of Aybar’s ability to take it.

“As soon as I threw it, I said out loud, ‘Nice take,’” Greinke said. “Because I was like, ‘I can’t believe you took it.’ … It was a really tempting pitch. I was surprised he didn’t swing at it.”

Both he and catcher Jeff Mathis did not second-guess what Greinke threw next; they just think it was a matter of poor execution.

“I wanted it to be probably similar to the curveball the pitch before, where it was probably a ball but really close to tempt him into swinging,” Greinke said. “I thought if I threw it in that spot, if I threw it for, like, a ball, but not too far a ball, that he would swing. But I threw a bad one.”

BICKLEY: D-Backs hang tough despite issues with ace, closer

Greinke, whose fastball velocity had been trending up since the start of the season, saw it dip back down to its spring training levels. He cracked 90 mph only a handful of times and averaged 88.8 mph, according to data available at BrooksBaseball.

But the outing was proof of how effective he can be even with a below-average fastball; he had nearly perfect location the entire night, with the exception of the pitch to Aybar. After giving up five runs in five innings against the Dodgers on Friday, Greinke finished with an eight-inning complete game, allowing just five hits and one walk.

“The command was really good, probably the best command I’ve had,” Grienke said. “That was a good thing.”

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

Thursday’s game

Diamondbacks at Padres

When: 6:10 p.m.

Where: Petco Park, San Diego.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (1-2, 2.81) vs. Padres LHP Clayton Richard (1-2, 3.60).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1).

Corbin was in trouble throughout much of his start last week at Dodger Stadium, but he managed to navigate his way through six innings, giving up five runs (three earned). … He has just seven strikeouts and seven walks in 16 innings. … Corbin logged 13 2/3 innings against the Padres last season, posting a 3.95 ERA with six walks and 14 strikeouts. … Richard tossed eight scoreless innings against the Dodgers in his first start of the season but has allowed four earned runs over six innings in each of the past two. … Richard, who split last season between the Cubs and Padres, faced the Diamondbacks three times and had solid results, posting a 3.24 ERA in 16 2/3 innings. … Richard has a three-pitch mix, with a fastball around 90 mph, a slider and a change-up.

Coming up

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (2-1, 3.94) vs. Dodgers LHP Alex Wood (1-0, 1.00).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (1-0, 1.96) vs. Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (1-1, 7.07).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (2-1,3.50) vs. Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-0, 2.12).