Zack Greinke has been keeping his counterparts down

Zack Greinke takes the mound in the series finale for the Dodgers against the Reds on Thursday morning, coming off a rare loss this season but looking to extend a few trends in 2015.

Greinke is 6-0 with a 1.45 ERA in seven daytime starts this season, with 47 strikeouts and just eight walks in 49⅔ innings.

He also has had exceptional success in limiting his counterparts all year, holding pitchers to 0-for-40, with one walk and 19 strikeouts. Greinke and Madison Bumgarner (0-for-42) are the only pitchers not to allow a hit to a pitcher this season, with a minimum of 25 plate appearances.

Side note: Greinke and Bumgarner are in line to start against each other next Tuesday, which holds extra intrigue since they rank first and second in OPS by pitchers this season (minimum 35 plate appearances).

But Greinke has limited all number nine hitters this season, holding them to 0-for-57 with two walks and 22 strikeouts. No other pitcher with at least 20 plate appearances against ninth-place hitters has allowed zero hits this season.

Greinke finishes out a road trip for the Dodgers, that despite the 2-5 record to date has featured some pretty good starting pitching. No Dodgers starter has allowed more than three runs in a game on the trip, and everyone has lasted at least six innings save for a couple of quick hooks in a pair of 5...-inning starts by Alex Wood.

On the trip, Dodgers starters have a 2.35 ERA with 36 strikeouts and nine walks in 46 innings.

Thursday's 9:35 a.m. PT start is the final breakfast baseball start of the year, with 12:10 p.m. (Sept. 24 and Oct. 4) the earliest start the rest of the way.

The last time the Dodgers swept a three-game series in Cincinnati was June 17-19, 2008.

Game info

Time: 9:35 a.m.

TV: SportsNet LA