Greinke: 'I've got to start pitching better'

Zack Greinke's debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks went terribly awry, and the former Cy Young award winner wasn't much better Saturday night, when he allowed four runs over six innings in his second start since signing a six-year, $206.5-million deal.

His performance wasn't quite as bad as Monday's outing against Colorado, but he knows this level of production isn't what the Diamondbacks paid for.

"Overall it wasn't very good and needs to be better," Greinke told reporters after his club's 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. "I'll do what I can to do better from here on out. Just too many mistakes, getting hit hard early and then started pitching better later, but just not good enough so far. I've got to start pitching better from here on out."

After getting tagged for seven runs in four innings in his Diamondbacks debut, the 32-year-old right-hander wasted no time putting himself behind the eight ball Saturday night at Chase Field, allowing three runs on four hits in the top of the first. Greinke settled down after that, surrendering only one run over the next five frames, but was still saddled with his second loss in five days. Last year, he didn't lose his second game until June 13, when he allowed two runs over eight innings in a 2-1 loss.

Not everyone in the Diamondbacks' clubhouse was as critical as Greinke, though. Chip Hale, now in his second season as Arizona's manager, was actually encouraged by the veteran's outing.

"I thought he threw the ball well," Hale said. "I think it's starting to come, starting to get comfortable. They jumped on him in the first inning. It happens a lot with good pitchers. They were swinging early in the count. Maybe a few pitches weren't where he wanted, but he hit some good pitches, too. I thought he did a good job. Got through the sixth inning, which was huge for us. Gave us a chance to win."

One week into his Diamondbacks tenure, however, Greinke has already managed two starts with a Game Score of 47 or lower, something he did just twice in 34 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015 as he cruised to a career-best 1.66 ERA. As such, the three-time All-Star wasn't buying his manager's absolution.

"I guess it could have gone worse, but it's been pretty bad," Greinke said. "Should do better."