Zack Greinke has been sorely missed by Dodgers

The Dodgers will get Zack Greinke back on Wednesday night in the finale of their three-game series against the Nationals. Greinke makes his first major league start since Apr. 11, when he broke his collarbone in a brawl with Carlos Quentin of the Padres. The results since haven't been pretty.

In the 33 days since, the Dodgers are 10-19 and have plummeted from a ½ game out to 6½ games out and in last place in the National League West.

Carlos Quentin has four home runs for the Padres in 19 games since he broke Greinke's collarbone, but has hit just .167/.282/.400 (10-for-60).

But for the Dodgers, replacing Greinke has proved nearly impossible.

The replacement starts aren't exactly linear, but the Dodgers have had five starts in Greinke's spot in the rotation since he was sidelined: Chris Capuano on Apr. 16, then after Capuano was hurt and the spot was briefly skipped, Ted Lilly on Apr. 24 and Apr. 29, then Matt Magill on May 4 and May 10. In those five starts, the Dodgers have a collective 9.92 ERA and a 2.571 WHIP in just 16⅓ innings.

Welcome back Zack.

Rehab news

• Catching up on some news from the last two days, Ted Lilly will start Wednesday night for Class-A Rancho Cucamonag, the first outing of a new minor league rehab assignment for the left-hander. Scott Elbert, who has struck out four of the six batters he has faced in two minor league rehab games with the Quakes, will also pitch in that game, per Austin Laymance of MLB.com.
• Laymance also notes that second baseman Mark Ellis will begin a rehab assignment Friday with Double-A Chattanooga and could join the Dodgers on Sunday in Atlanta. Jerry Hairston, nursing a strained groin, will play a simulated game at the Dodgers' complex in Arizona on Thursday, then could join Ellis in Chattanooga.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m.

TV: Prime Ticket