MILWAUKEE -- Craig Counsell and Zack Greinke spent just one season together as teammates with the Brewers, but the two developed a friendship that has lasted since they helped Milwaukee to a division crown in 2011.
After the Brewers beat Clayton Kershaw in Counsell's managerial debut, his friend and former teammate was the opponent for act two.
Greinke handed Counsell his first loss as a big-league skipper by not allowing an earned run over 7 2/3 strong innings, as the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to an 8-2 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park.
"We saw it for a while here, he's been good in this park," Counsell said. "He was good tonight. He was real good tonight."
Counsell was entering his 16th and final season in the big leagues when the Brewers traded for Greinke prior to 2011.
The two played different roles in Milwaukee's run to the National League Championship series that season, as Greinke was at the top of the starting rotation and Counsell was a utility infielder providing what he had left.
"I enjoy Zack a lot," Counsell said. "We've texted a lot. We watched a college game together this spring. He's a friend, for sure."
While Greinke was with the Brewers, he was allowed to participate in the scouting process for the 2012 first-year player draft. The draft happened to fall on an off day for Milwaukee, so Greinke spent the night in the team's war room.
Counsell, who became a special assistant to general manager Doug Melvin after he retired following the 2011 season, witnessed it all.
The bond over player evaluation continued even after Greinke was traded to the Los Angeles Angels and then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Each of the past three spring trainings, Counsell and Greinke have watched Arizona State baseball games together.
"He's always enjoyed the amateur scouting side of the game," Counsell said. "We go and just talk about players. We are talking about players having fun. For me, it is always a good conversation."
Greinke was just 10 minutes from boarding the Dodgers' charter to Milwaukee on Sunday night when he saw the news of Ron Roenicke's firing.
Roenicke had strong relationships with most of his players, and his bond with Greinke was no different. That left the former Cy Young Award winner feeling a bit bittersweet over Roenicke's firing, considering his friend was named as successor.
"I loved Ron," Greinke said. "I really enjoyed playing for him, and I learned a lot from him. Counsell is pretty awesome himself."
Asked further about his relationship with Counsell, Greinke changed the subject back to Roenicke.
"I think Craig is going to do pretty good," Greinke said. "But like I said, I really enjoyed Ron. I thought he did a terrific job, especially while I was there. I don't know much since, but he's the same guy every day. I thought he was great."
Outside of his Cy Young season of 2009, Greinke has been at his best since joining the Dodgers on a six-year, $147 million contract -- including an opt-out clause after 2015 -- in December 2012.
Greinke is now 37-12 with a 2.57 ERA in 66 starts with the Dodgers. His outing Tuesday lowered his ERA to 1.56 in 2015.
"I don't really try to do as much as I used to," Greinke said. "When I'm not having a good day I can work through it where in the past I'd try to do even better. That's probably helped the consistency part.
"I don't try to throw 95 (mph) every pitch. If I throw a slider 0-0, I don't try to make it nasty as possible. Even with two strikes I don't always do that, either. In the past I'd try to make every pitch my best pitch. That's the difference."
Greinke, who went 15-0 with a 2.93 ERA at home as a member of the Brewers, continued his dominance at Miller Park on Tuesday. A one-out single by Aramis Ramirez in the second and a leadoff single by Scooter Gennett in the fifth were the only hits allowed by the right-hander.
Milwaukee's lone tally against Greinke was unearned, as Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson dropped what appeared to be a routine fly ball, allowing Ramirez to score with two outs in the second.
"We saw it for a while here, he's been good in this park," Counsell said. "He was good tonight. He was real good tonight."
Greinke had lost his only two starts at Miller Park since leaving Milwaukee, but he is 10-0 with a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts since losing to the Brewers on Aug. 9, 2014.
Speaking with pure honesty, as he always did over his year and a half with the Brewers, Greinke let the media crowd around his locker know his true thoughts on his current 10-game winning streak.
"Of all the streaks that we've talked about I think that's the most worthless of all of them," Greinke said.
Follow Andrew Gruman on Twitter
