• Zack Greinke on his near no-hitter against Pirates

    Zack Greinke on his near no-hitter against Pirates

  • Lovullo reacts to Greinke's near no-hitter in win

    Lovullo reacts to Greinke’s near no-hitter in win

  • Diamondbacks snap losing streak with win over Tigers

    Diamondbacks snap losing streak with win over Tigers

  • Diamondbacks drop third straight with loss to Tigers

    Diamondbacks drop third straight with loss to Tigers

  • Shot Clock: D-Backs face pivotal homestand

    Shot Clock: D-Backs face pivotal homestand

  • Torey Lovullo after D-Backs' latest loss to Rockies

    Torey Lovullo after D-Backs’ latest loss to Rockies

  • Taijuan Walker after loss to Rockies

    Taijuan Walker after loss to Rockies

  • Patrick Corbin after being roughed up by Rockies

    Patrick Corbin after being roughed up by Rockies

  • D-Backs' Torey Lovullo on 'tough night' at Coors Field

    D-Backs’ Torey Lovullo on ‘tough night’ at Coors Field

  • Zack Greinke on impressive outing vs. Rockies

    Zack Greinke on impressive outing vs. Rockies

  • Manager Torey Lovullo after win over Rockies

    Manager Torey Lovullo after win over Rockies

  • Manager Torey Lovullo after D-Backs lose series vs. Nationals

    Manager Torey Lovullo after D-Backs lose series vs. Nationals

  • Braden Shipley after walking six in loss to Nationals

    Braden Shipley after walking six in loss to Nationals

  • D-Backs' Torey Lovullo after loss to Nationals

    D-Backs’ Torey Lovullo after loss to Nationals

  • Diamondbacks' Robbie Ray strikes out 10 in loss to Nationals

    Diamondbacks’ Robbie Ray strikes out 10 in loss to Nationals

  • Torey Lovullo on D-Backs' 6-3 win over Nationals

    Torey Lovullo on D-Backs’ 6-3 win over Nationals

  • Taijuan Walker on his short start vs. Nationals

    Taijuan Walker on his short start vs. Nationals

  • Shot Clock: Rockets sizzle, D-Backs fizzle?

    Shot Clock: Rockets sizzle, D-Backs fizzle?

  • A.J. Pollock on controversial play: "You guys saw the replay"

    A.J. Pollock on controversial play: “You guys saw the replay”

  • Descalso talks about walk-off home run over Rockies

    Descalso talks about walk-off home run over Rockies

  • Lovullo on pitching, more in D-Backs' wild win

    Lovullo on pitching, more in D-Backs’ wild win

  • Corbin discusses his scoreless outing vs. Rockies

    Corbin discusses his scoreless outing vs. Rockies

  • Fernando Rodney talks about his latest blown save

    Fernando Rodney talks about his latest blown save

  • Zack Greinke after outing vs. Rockies

    Zack Greinke after outing vs. Rockies

  • D-Backs' Shelby Miller to have Tommy John surgery

    D-Backs’ Shelby Miller to have Tommy John surgery

  • Diamondbacks fall 3-1 to Rockies

    Diamondbacks fall 3-1 to Rockies

  • Chris Owings on his two-homer night

    Chris Owings on his two-homer night

  • D-Backs' Taijuan Walker on his 11-strikeout performance vs. Padres

    D-Backs’ Taijuan Walker on his 11-strikeout performance vs. Padres

  • D-Backs' Shelby Miller considering Tommy John surgery

    D-Backs’ Shelby Miller considering Tommy John surgery

  • Fernando Rodney reacts to his blown save against the Padres

    Fernando Rodney reacts to his blown save against the Padres

  • Torey Lovullo reacts to Diamondbacks' 'heartbreaking' loss

    Torey Lovullo reacts to Diamondbacks’ ‘heartbreaking’ loss

  • Diamondbacks attendance hits new low

    Diamondbacks attendance hits new low

  • Diamondbacks pull away from Padres for 9-3 win

    Diamondbacks pull away from Padres for 9-3 win

  • Diamondbacks hold on for win over Padres

    Diamondbacks hold on for win over Padres

  • Shelby Miller on his injury, visit with team doctor

    Shelby Miller on his injury, visit with team doctor

  • Arizona Diamondbacks' Shelby Miller discusses arm injury

    Arizona Diamondbacks’ Shelby Miller discusses arm injury

  • David Peralta on his record-setting night

    David Peralta on his record-setting night

  • Robbie Ray reacts to Saturday's win over the Dodgers

    Robbie Ray reacts to Saturday’s win over the Dodgers

  • Diamondbacks use 9-run eighth to overwhelm Dodgers

    Diamondbacks use 9-run eighth to overwhelm Dodgers

  • Paul Goldschmidt on D-Backs' offense vs. Padres

    Paul Goldschmidt on D-Backs’ offense vs. Padres

  • Manager Torey Lovullo breaks down D-Backs' loss, road trip

    Manager Torey Lovullo breaks down D-Backs’ loss, road trip

Zack Greinke’s season began with questions. Whether it was his contract or his age, his velocity or his effectiveness, the fact was the Diamondbacks had spent wildly to land him a year ago, but it was unclear if he would ever represent the ace they had hoped they were getting.

But in his eighth start of his second season with the Diamondbacks, Greinke had a night about as dominant as any is his career, giving up just one hit in eight innings of a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday at Chase Field.

He flirted with a no-hitter longer than he ever had in the majors. He toyed with the Pirates, hitting spots with his fastball and deceiving them with his slider. He seemed to be ahead in the count nearly the entire game.

The outing was peak Greinke, the latest encouraging sign for a Diamondbacks team that has $206.5 million invested in him.

“He was in total command of every inning,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s been typical Zack for the past several outings. He’s been carrying this staff.”

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Throughout spring, concern swirled around the 33-year-old right-hander. Not only was he coming off a down season, but his stuff looked diminished, his fastball off a couple of ticks, his slider no longer biting.

After a start last month at Dodger Stadium, where Greinke was hit hard by his former team, he started poking around in search of answers. He wouldn’t say who he turned to for help, but he said a couple of people told him his slider seemed unusually slow. Since then, he’s been nearly unhittable.

“I started throwing it a little harder, but it’s kind of just going right to a good spot all the time,” Greinke said. “Even if I try to throw it down the middle, it kind of goes down and away. I don’t know if the mechanics are good right now and making the location good, but it’s going to good zones and it’s sharp.”

After Greinke’s start last weekend at Coors Field, Colorado Rockies star Nolan Arenado said the slider was better than he’d ever seen it. Greinke used the pitch heavily on Thursday against the Pirates’ predominantly right-handed lineup, with eight of his 11 strikeouts coming on the pitch.

As it turned out, it was also the pitch Gregory Polanco hit to bring an end to the no-hit bid. Leading off the eighth, Polanco was out in front on a 1-0 fastball, crushing a ball that had home run distance but hooked just foul down the right-field line.

Three pitches later, he did it again, this time mashing a down-and-in slider and managing to keep it just inside the foul pole.

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“I made a decent pitch to Polanco but probably too many inside pitches,” Greinke said. “He was obviously on the inner part of the plate that last at-bat with the foul home run earlier and the homer on the slider.”

To that point, the only baserunner Greinke had allowed was on a third-inning walk to Jordy Mercer, who was promptly cut down trying to steal by catcher Jeff Mathis.

The game ended in similar fashion. To start the ninth, Greinke gave way to closer Fernando Rodney, who retired the first two batters before issuing a two-out walk to Josh Harrison.

But Mathis, throwing from his knees, fired a strike to second to gun down Harrison. The Pirates challenged, but the call stood after a lengthy replay review.

PITCHERS: Godley stakes claim on D-Backs’ fifth starter job

“I want to time that throw down to second,” Greinke said. “It was one of the best throws I’ve ever seen.”

Said Mathis: “I just felt like that was the quickest way I was going to get it down there. It was a change-up and I was just trying to get it down there as quick as possible and I’m glad it ended up where it was at.”

It preserved yet another impressive start for Greinke, who has logged five consecutive quality starts while lowering his season ERA to 2.79. Greinke had eight 0-2 counts and another five 1-2 counts. He recorded nine outs on three or fewer pitches.

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Working with a fastball that generally sits around 90-91 mph, Greinke was mostly at 88 mph throughout spring training. He acknowledged Thursday he was “a little bit” concerned when camp ended, but he’s quickly erased any doubts.

“The fastball, I felt, was getting hit hard, and the slider didn’t feel good in spring,” he said. “I didn’t feel great. I feel better now than I did coming into the season, that’s for sure.”

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

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