Padres look to break cold streak vs. Greinke

Zack Greinke cruised in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut as he gets ready to face a lineup that will be mostly unfamiliar to him.

He'll try to duplicate his success from his first outing when the visiting Dodgers and San Diego Padres complete this three-game set Thursday night.

Greinke (1-0, 0.00 ERA) yielded two hits with no walks and six strikeouts Friday to earn a 3-0 home win over Pittsburgh. He signed a $147 million, six-year contract with Los Angeles (5-3) and wanted to get off to a good start.

"First impressions are important," Greinke said. "But I'm just trying to get one out at a time. No matter who it is, they're the most important batter at the moment. That's kind of what I do, and hopefully everything takes care of itself."

The Dodgers put him on a pitch count that reached 92 after the right-hander worked 13 innings in the spring. He'll have an extra day of rest as he faces the Padres for the second time after yielding two runs in six innings to gain credit for a 4-3 victory May 9, 2011, with Milwaukee.

The only regulars in the lineup from San Diego (2-6) in that contest who are available Thursday are Will Venable and Cameron Maybin, who combined to go 1 for 5.

The only Padres hitters with more than three at-bats against Greinke are Carlos Quentin, who is 6 for 24 with three homers, and Mark Kotsay, 3 for 10.

Quentin, however, sat out Wednesday's 4-3 loss after getting hit on the wrist by a pitch from Ronald Belisario the night before and manager Bud Black said he was still sore.

"He's going through a number of tests, and we hope to get a better idea of where he's headed," Black told the Padres' official website.

Kotsay, meanwhile, has not started either game of this series, although he's 6 for 11 in 2013.

While Greinke may need some help figuring out the Padres lineup, San Diego right-hander Jason Marquis (0-1, 3.00) will get his first look at the red-hot Carl Crawford for the Dodgers.

Crawford has four straight two-hit efforts and six in seven starts this season, going 13 for 28. He led off Wednesday's game with a homer and tripled and came around to score in the fifth inning.

"It's definitely fun," he said. "Even if I wouldn't have had a fast start like I'm having now, everything is just good for me right now."

Nick Hundley went 4 for 4 for the fourth time in his career for San Diego, which also started with six losses in its first eight games in 2012.

Marquis allowed five runs over six innings Friday in a 5-2 defeat at Colorado. He's 6-4 with a 2.64 ERA in 14 career starts against Los Angeles.

Matt Kemp is off to a slow start with five hits in 30 at-bats, and is 2 for 17 in his career against Marquis.

The Dodgers may be concerned about a bullpen that has allowed eight runs over six innings in this series. Their relievers had worked 13 scoreless innings before this set began.