Cardinals stymied by Zack Greinke, but hitting isn’t the issue

7:09 PM ET

ST. LOUIS — Zack Greinke has won more games against the St. Louis Cardinals than any other active major league pitcher and two of those 11 wins have come this season. Even from such an advantageous position, he sees danger in this group of Cardinal hitters.

“A lot of times in my good games, they’ve hit the ball pretty good,” Greinke said. “It’s just some breaks kind of happen.”

After he allowed only five hits over eight innings and his Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cardinals 7-2 Sunday, Greinke pointed out the hard-hit outs Cardinal batters made. Stephen Piscotty hit a couple of soaring drives that Chris Owings caught on the warning track. Aledmys Diaz, who Greinke referred to as “that Diaz guy,” impressed him with the quality of his at-bats.

“It’s impressive he’s still doing that good after his hot start,” Greinke said.

As impressive as the Cardinals’ offense has been to those who watch closely, it has also spun its wheels too often, fighting to gain traction as the other team scores with similar ease.

Jaime Garcia had one of the worst starts of his career Sunday against the Diamondbacks, lasting just 2 1/3 innings and allowing 10 hits. AP Photo/Billy Hurst

Last week’s 2-0 win over the Colorado Rockies behind Adam Wainwright would have been a ho-hum result last season. This year, it has stood in stunning isolation. It is the only time this season the Cardinals have won a game in which they scored fewer than four runs. Only three times have the Cardinals won …

continue reading in source espn.go.com