Zack Greinke & the forgotten crew beat Padres in opener

Zack Greinke continued his dominance of the Padres and the National League West, and was backed on offense by a forgotten trio, giving the Dodgers first blood with a 3-0 victory over the Padres on Friday night at Petco Park in San Diego.

Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings, throwing 106 pitches, and for the most part gave his outfielders the night off. He allowed four hits and walked three, but also got eight ground ball outs and struck out seven. He ended his night getting Yangervis Solarte to ground into a 3-6-1 twin killing, the finest of all ground ball double plays.

On the season Greinke has allowed just four runs in four starts, with 21 strikeouts and five walks in 26⅔ innings.

He's 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres, and since joining the Dodgers is 21-1 with a 1.88 ERA in 31 starts (and 201⅓ innings) against the National League West.

The Dodgers took the lead in the second when Yasmani Grandal, batting left-handed, hit a ball down the left field line that was just inches from a home run, but he settled for a double. Two batters later, Juan Uribe delivered a two-out single up the middle for his first RBI of the year.

Grandal, facing his old team, began the day just 6-for-36 on the season with six walks. He was 2-for-3 with a walk on the night.

Uribe, who was 1-for-4 on the night, has a seven-game hitting streak, hitting .304 (7-for-23) during the streak.

The game was a tight 1-0 game until the seventh, when Carl Crawford lined a ball into the right field seats for his first home run of the season, and a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers added an insurance run in the ninth thanks to a Grandal walk, a Crawford double and a sacrifice fly by Joc Pederson.

The one slumping player who didn't do much on offense on Friday was Jimmy Rollins, who was 0-for-4 out of the leadoff spot. But he turned stellar defense, especially in the eighth inning, when he likely saved at least one run. He robbed Wil Myers with a quick and strong throw from deep in the hole at shortstop to start the inning, then knocked down an infield single by Justin Upton that if it got to the outfield would have scored Matt Kemp. a Then, to end the inning Rollins ranged up the middle to retire Yonder Alonso.

Yimi Garcia continued his stellar relief run by pitching a perfect ninth for his first career save, the third different Dodgers pitcher to notch a save this season. Opposing batters are just 3-for-33 (.091) against Garcia this season, with three walks (one intentional) and 16 strikeouts.

Up next

Brandon McCarthy gets the ball for the Dodgers on Saturday evening, an earlier start at 5:40 p.m. PT. The Padres will counter with Ian Kennedy, fresh off the disabled list after missing two weeks with a hamstring strain. San Diego will need to make a corresponding roster move before the game.

Friday particulars

Home run: Carl Crawford (1)

WP - Zack Greinke (3-0): 7 IP, 4 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts

LP - Andrew Cashner (1-3): 7 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

Sv - Yimi Garcia (1): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts