In commanding outing, Greinke shows why D-backs paid him $200M

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke shied away from being called one of the best starters in franchise history Friday when he was named to the Arizona’s 20th anniversary team.

“I think you probably get a little bit of a bias from being the most recent player on the team,” he said.

But before Sunday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, Diamondbacks announcer Mark Grace compared him to the D-backs’ lone Hall of Famer. On a losing streak, if Randy Johnson took the mound, the team was confident their fortunes would turn.

Greinke instills the same feeling for Grace.

On Sunday, the pitcher illustrated why the team signed him for $206.5 million before the 2016 season.

In eight innings of work, Greinke only gave up just two hits and struck out 13, tied for a career-high. On one of the Ks, he made Charlie Blackmon, a two-time Silver Slugger, wave wildly at an eephus curve.

From the second until midway through the seventh inning, Greinke retired 17 of 18 batters.

During a post-All-Star game stretch in which the team had surrendered 22 runs in three games – nine off bullpen pitchers – the workhorse took care of business himself. He threw 111 pitches, 77 for strikes.

The D-backs had just fallen to third place. The division rival Los Angeles Dodgers had just traded for star infielder Manny Machado.

Simply put, it was a win when the D-backs needed it most.

“Zack came out on a day when we could have been flatlined, and picked us up,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We jumped on his back and he carried us a long way.”

He’s been defibrillating the team for months.

This season, when Greinke pitches the game after a D-backs loss, the team is 8-3. In two of those losses, Arizona fell by a score of 2-1.

At home, where the D-backs have been simply mediocre with a 27-25 record, Greinke is 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA.

He has beaten the Dodgers twice.

And Sunday, a time when the D-backs had gone a full week without a win, he did it again.

“On a day when we were obviously a little bit down after the tough loss yesterday, once again, Zack steps up and does an incredible job of really letting us get into a very comfortable way inside of our dugout,” Lovullo said.

Perhaps Greinke’s only mistake was not running out a bunt that turned into a double play. But when the pitcher has the fifth-best batting average on the team, this can be overlooked.

Greinke assumed the stopper role last season, ending four losing streaks in July alone. Over the full year, he had a 2.91 ERA in a dozen such appearances.

With that said, his contract won’t be worth it unless he can perform up to it in the postseason. But to get there, a team needs an ace.

Greinke is as close to one as the Diamondbacks have had in a long time.

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