Greinke goes for Dodgers in San Diego

(SportsNetwork.com) - Zack Greinke goes after his third straight win on Friday when the Los Angeles Dodgers begin a three-game set with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

After getting a no-decision versus the Padres to start his year, Greinke has responded with back-to-back wins and is pitching to a 1.83 ERA, as well as a 0.71 WHIP on the year.

Greinke wasn't particularly sharp his last time out against Colorado on Saturday, but did enough to get the win, as he allowed three runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Since joining the Dodgers, Greinke is 20-1 against the NL West, while the Dodgers are 43-20 in his starts.

"He was typical Zack," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "He located, he changed speeds. He had a couple quick innings in the middle that kept his pitch count down. He got sick a couple days ago and we sent him home early yesterday."

Greinke faced the Padres back on April 7 and surrendered a run and two hits in six innings, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 7-3 loss.

Los Angeles comes into this one reeling a bit after getting swept in a three- game set by the San Francisco Giants, including a 3-2 loss in 10 innings on Thursday.

Alex Guerrero and Adrian Gonzalez hit solo homers for the Dodgers, whose slide comes on the heels of a seven-game winning streak. Mike Bolsinger made his Los Angeles debut and allowed one run on five hits while striking out five and walking two over 5 2/3 innings.

San Diego, meanwhile, also enters on a sour note after dropping the final two games in their four-game set with the Colorado Rockies, culminating with a 2-1 setback on Thursday.

Tyson Ross (1-1) struck out seven and yielded just two runs in five innings, but he allowed six hits and issued four walks, including three in the first inning that led to the Rockies' first run. He also served up a solo homer to Corey Dickerson.

"He battled. I think that's a good way to put it," said Padres manager Bud Black. "He gave us a chance to win the game even though he wasn't at the top of his game."

San Diego will hand the ball on Friday to righty Andrew Cashner, who picked up his first win of the season his last time out in Chicago. Cashner yielded two unearned runs to the Cubs in that one, as well as five hits in six innings to improve to 1-2, while lowering his ERA to 2.65.

"When they stress our starter early, his pitch count was up, really proud of Cash the way he hung in there and gave us six innings when we needed length from the starter," said Padres manager Bud Black of Cashner, who allowed the two runs in the first inning.

Cashner lost to the Dodgers earlier in the year and is just 1-3 lifetime against them with a 2.17 ERA in 18 games (7 starts).

The Dodgers took two of three from the Padres to start the season.