Dodgers hit Zack Greinke well as Clayton Kershaw cruises against Diamondbacks

LOS ANGELES – As he spoke with reporters on Friday night, Zack Greinke replayed his outing in mind, reliving the five innings he threw, the 10 hits he allowed and the five runs he gave up in a game he and the Diamondbacks lost 7-1 at Dodger Stadium.

He kept recalling specific pitches, but most of them, in his mind, at least, weren’t especially bad. What he kept circling back to was this: The Dodgers are a really good team.

“I should be able to keep it closer than I did,” he said. “But, I mean, their team is good. It would have been nice to keep them closer, that’s for sure. I don’t know. It was a tough game.”

In the most expensive matchup in baseball history, Greinke, who will make $34 million this season, was outpitched by the consensus best pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ $35 million-a-year left-hander who took a two-hitter into the ninth and fell two outs short of shutout.

For the Diamondbacks, the loss was their third in four games on this road trip. And while their struggles this time were entirely understandable, the performance extended their offensive draught to five games, a stretch in which they’ve scored a total of 11 runs while hitting a collective .204.

BOX SCORE: Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 1

Greinke’s outing felt shaky from the beginning, when the final two outs of the first inning were recorded on well-struck, warning-track fly outs. An inning later, he had to work out of a bases-loaded jam, escaping by getting Kershaw to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

The Dodgers broke through in the third, getting four consecutive singles to bring home two runs. The first two hits in the inning came with two strikes; five of the 10 hits Greinke allowed in the game came with two strikes.

“Mainly just good at-bats by them,” Greinke said. “They seem to do that a lot against me. Last year, same thing. Even the good games I threw, it was a tougher game. Today, it was the same thing. It wasn’t like the best I’ve ever pitched, but it’s just their at-bats are super quality and they hit the ball hard a lot. It was just a good game by them.”

Greinke didn’t put much stock in the idea that the Dodgers’ success stems from their firsthand knowledge of him as a former teammate. And he started to say it could be a product of the Dodgers having such an experienced lineup before he added, “But even their young guys take good at-bats against me.”

The same could not be said about the quality of the Diamondbacks’ at-bats against Kershaw, but no one could blame them. Kershaw was firing fastballs in the 93-94 mph range to both sides of the plate. He was hitting spots with his slider. He was changing speeds with his loopy curveball.

And Kershaw was firing strike after strike, cruising through every inning, with the exception of the fourth, when the Diamondbacks put two on with one out but couldn’t cash in.

“We had one opportunity there and couldn’t push anything across,” first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. “It’s tough when a guy is throwing strikes. You’re trying to be aggressive, but then he gets quick outs because they’re good pitches. If you’re patient, then you’re hitting behind the count and you don’t want to do that with him. Give him a ton of credit tonight. He pitched really well. Hopefully, next time, we’ll get him.”

MORE:Defense shaky up the middle for Diamondbacks

Greinke said last weekend he was looking forward to stepping into the box against Kershaw, something he’d never had the chance to do, because he wanted to see just how good his stuff was. But Greinke didn’t really get to see much of anything, he said.

“My eyes were kind of blurry when he was pitching for some reason, but then I didn’t see him good, either,” Greinke said. “I wish I saw more.”

Wait, what? Blurry?

“I just wasn’t seeing it good,” said Greinke, who said his vision was fine the rest of the game. “I think that’s part of his success is guys don’t see it real good out of his hand. And I just wasn’t seeing the pitches real good. I don’t know if that was just my eyes were messed up at the time or if that was him being tough to see. I wasn’t very close to getting a hit.”

Chris Owings lined an RBI double into the right-center field gap in the ninth inning to end Kershaw’s bid for a shutout, a hit that brought Dave Roberts out of the dugout with his ace’s pitch count at 100.

“He’s got so many weapons,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s really the first time I’ve had the chance to watch him. I saw a guy that was changing speeds, locations and just different mixes to finish you off. He’s one of the best in the game and there’s a reason for it. We’re a very potent offensive team and he held us down. You’ve got to give him some credit.”

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

Saturday’s game 

Diamondbacks at Dodgers

When: 6:10 p.m.

Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (1-1, 1.80) vs. Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (1-1, 6.30).

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

Corbin threw well on Sunday against the Indians, giving up just four hits and two walks in six scoreless innings as the Diamondbacks completed a sweep of the defending American League champs. … Corbin lasted just four innings against the Giants in his first start of the year. … He struggled against the Dodgers last season, posting a 4.74 ERA in 24 2/3 innings, the rare left-handed pitcher who did not post good numbers against them a year ago. … Maeda had a strong first season in the U.S. last year, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting after posting a 3.48 ERA in 175 2/3 innings. … He has lasted five innings in each of his two starts, giving up three runs against the Padres and four vs. the Rockies at Coors Field. … In six starts against the Diamondbacks last season, Maeda had a 2.97 ERA with 34 strikeouts and just seven walks in 33 1/3 innings.

Coming up

Sunday: At Los Angeles, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (1-1, 4.91) vs. Dodgers LHP Rich Hill (1-0, 1.80).

Monday: At Los Angeles, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (1-0, 2.19) vs. Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-0, 1.50).

Tuesday: At San Diego, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (1-1, 5.06) vs. Padres RHP Zach Lee (1-0, 0.00).