MIAMI _ For a pitching-strapped team like the Marlins, with four starters either demoted to the minors or on the disabled list, Jeff Locke's long-awaited debut Thursday came like Christmas in June.
Not only is the veteran left-hander finally healthy after missing most of spring training and the first two months of the season with biceps tendinitis, he pitched with the effectiveness that made him an All-Star with the Pirates.
Locke held the Diamondbacks, one of the top teams in the National League, to one run in 52/3 innings. He left with a one-run lead in a duel with Zack Greinke, one of the league's best pitchers.
The erratic Marlins bullpen was unable to hold it. Kyle Barraclough walked the first two batters in the eighth and both scored on Nick Ahmed's single off Brad Ziegler to put the Diamondbacks ahead and on the way to a 3-2 win in the opener of a four-game series at Marlins Park.
Arizona's 19th comeback victory, the most in the NL, halted Miami's season-best four-game winning streak.
The Marlins had the tying run in scoring position in the eighth but reliever Archie Bradley struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna.
The positive for Miami was Locke providing the sort of performance the Marlins were looking for when they signed him to a $3 million contract in the offseason, but better than was reasonable to expect after the long layoff.
A testament to how sharp he was, Locke didn't walk a batter while striking out seven. He gave up only three hits.
"You never know what's going to happen the first time out of the gate," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said before the game. "It's a guy with promise for us. He was an All-Star a couple years ago, a guy that's had some success. We're hoping he has it here."
Locke, who made 110 starts and was 35-38 in six seasons with the Pirates, hadn't started in the majors since Aug 3 when he gave up five runs in 41/3 innings in Atlanta. He pitched out of the bullpen for Pittsburgh the remainder of 2016.
He was efficient and effective from the opening pitch. Locke needed only 28 pitches through two perfect innings with four strikeouts. He struck out dangerous Paul Goldschmidt swinging at a full-count fastball on the outer edge of the plate to end the first.
He retired the first 10 batters before Ahmed tripled to the right-field corner with one out in the fourth. Goldschmidt, the D-backs' best hitter, hit a medium fly to right, and Stanton's strong throw home kept Ahmed on third. Locke stranded him by getting cleanup hitter Chris Owings on another fly out.
Locke worked consistently ahead in the count, which increased the effectiveness of his off-speed pitches. He fooled Jake Lamb with a changeup to end the fifth.
The D-backs put together multiple hits off Locke only in the sixth, including a single by Greinke. Mattingly came and got Locke after Ahmed dropped a two-out single just out of reach of Christian Yelich in center. He had thrown 80 pitches, 56 for strikes.
David Phelps came on to face Goldschmidt, who singled to right to score Greinke, but avoided further damage to preserve the lead.
It was tough matchup for what Locke called "my opening day" against Greinke, who won four of five starts in May with a 3.28 ERA and was 4-0 in his career against the Marlins.
But they got to him for two runs in the third, sparked by J.T. Riddle's one-out double, extending the rookie shortstop's hitting streak to seven games.
Stanton, back in the lineup after resting one day after experiencing a hamstring cramp, drove the first pitch he saw from Greinke, a low fastball, the opposite way to right-center to drive in Riddle. Dee Gordon scored from first when the ball got away from right fielder Owings for an error.
Only one run was earned, and Greinke didn't allow another in completing seven innings. He allowed only four hits, none after the fourth inning.
The inability to hold a late-inning lead has been a recurring problem for the Marlins and made for a sour start to June. Coming off a 10-18 May that ended on an upswing with wins in six of the previous eight games, they are facing a challenging stretch of 10 games against the Diamondbacks, Cubs and Pirates without a day off.
"I think you can't look back and we really can't look forward. Just try to win a series," Mattingly said, while pointing out, "We just didn't play very well, honestly. We kind of did everything wrong you could do wrong in different areas at different times. Hopefully we're past that."
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