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AL: Greinke wins fifth straight for Royals
By Doug Tucker, AP Sports Writer
Thursday, April 30, 2009 | No comments posted.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Anyone wishing to talk about 20 wins or Cy Young awards or anything else that might await Zack Greinke at the end of the season would be smart to do it when Greinke is out of the room.
He just won’t have it. None of it. Kansas City’s 25-year-old right-hander once walked out of spring training vowing to give up baseball and start a lawn mowing service. He knows all too well how distractions and lack of focus can derail a young pitcher.
“Even having one thought toward that takes away from what you’re doing,” he said.
Wednesday night, in what can accurately be described as his worst outing of the year, the right-hander mixed his pitches, changed speeds, hit his spots and held Toronto to five hits and two runs in Kansas City’s 11-3 romp over the Blue Jays.
But Vernon Wells’ RBI single with two outs in the first scored Marco Scutaro with the first earned run off the 25-year-old Greinke in 43 innings, a span of six starts. Scutaro also walked in the third and eventually scored on a double play grounder, ballooning his ERA from 0.00 all the way to 0.50.
“He showed he’s human,” said Royals manager Trey Hillman.
After throwing complete games in his two previous starts, Greinke went seven innings, allowing two walks against eight strikeouts. The first Royals pitcher to post a 5-0 April, he leads the AL with 44 strikeouts.
“All I really think about right now is just one game at a time,” he said. “And once the game starts, it’s one batter at a time. And then once that batter gets up there, it’s one pitch at a time. That method, I think, is the best for me to pitch good and continue to stay not having ups and downs, just having consistent, quality games.”
He picked a good night not to have his best stuff with the Royals pounding out 15 hits, including 11 for extra bases. Billy Butler had two home runs, a double and a single and four RBIs. Mark Teahen had a two-run home run and Mike Aviles had a two-run triple. Brian Tallet (1-1) was charged with 10 runs on 11 hits in four innings.
“(Greinke) was able to throw every pitch for a strike,” Wells said. “He keeps you off balance. He’ll blow you away with a 95 (mph) if he wants to. He was dominant, as he has been all year.”
Yankees 8, Tigers 6: At Detroit, Nick Swisher hit two homers and Joba Chamberlain gave up a run in seven innings to lead New York.
The Yankees won two straight in Detroit by a combined score of 19-6 after losing the series opener and three in a row at Boston for a season-high four-game skid.
Chamberlain (1-0) gave up three hits and three walks.
Red Sox 6, Indians 5, 10 innings: At Cleveland, Jonathan Van Every hit his first major league home run in the 10th inning to cap Boston’s comeback win.
Van Every hit a 1-1 pitch from Jensen Lewis (2-3) to center with two outs after getting an RBI single during Boston’s three-run rally in the eighth.
Hideki Okajima (2-0) worked the ninth for the win. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the 10th for his sixth save in six opportunities.
Twins 8, Rays 3: At Minneapolis, Nick Blackburn (2-1) gave up two runs and eight hits in seven innings, and the Twins roughed up Rays ace Scott Kazmir.
Justin Morneau had three hits, a walk and an RBI for the Twins, who took two of three from the defending AL champions.
Kazmir (3-2) lasted just four innings, the second rough outing in his last three starts. The All-Star lefty gave up eight runs — six earned — and nine hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
Angels 3, Orioles 2: At Baltimore, Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales hit consecutive homers off Koji Uehara in the seventh inning and Shane Loux earned his first win since 2003 as Los Angeles swept the two-game series.
Uehara (2-2) left in the seventh after being struck in the chest by a line drive off the bat of Gary Matthews Jr. The injury was determined to be a bruised sternum. X-rays were negative.
Loux (1-2) gave up one run and five hits in six-plus innings for his first victory since Sept. 24, 2003, with Detroit. It was the fourth start of the season for the right-hander, who entered with a 6.61 ERA.
Brian Fuentes got three outs for his fifth save.
White Sox 6, Mariners 3: At Chicago, slumping Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning to lift the White Sox.
A.J. Pierzynski also homered as the White Sox rallied from a 3-1 deficit and avoided what would have been their first losing April since 2001.
Matt Thornton (1-1) pitched a one-hit seventh in relief of Gavin Floyd. Bobby Jenks pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Shawn Kelley (0-1), who had pitched 7 2-3 scoreless innings over six appearances coming in, relieved Erik Bedard with a 3-1 lead.
He just won’t have it. None of it. Kansas City’s 25-year-old right-hander once walked out of spring training vowing to give up baseball and start a lawn mowing service. He knows all too well how distractions and lack of focus can derail a young pitcher.
“Even having one thought toward that takes away from what you’re doing,” he said.
Wednesday night, in what can accurately be described as his worst outing of the year, the right-hander mixed his pitches, changed speeds, hit his spots and held Toronto to five hits and two runs in Kansas City’s 11-3 romp over the Blue Jays.
But Vernon Wells’ RBI single with two outs in the first scored Marco Scutaro with the first earned run off the 25-year-old Greinke in 43 innings, a span of six starts. Scutaro also walked in the third and eventually scored on a double play grounder, ballooning his ERA from 0.00 all the way to 0.50.
“He showed he’s human,” said Royals manager Trey Hillman.
After throwing complete games in his two previous starts, Greinke went seven innings, allowing two walks against eight strikeouts. The first Royals pitcher to post a 5-0 April, he leads the AL with 44 strikeouts.
“All I really think about right now is just one game at a time,” he said. “And once the game starts, it’s one batter at a time. And then once that batter gets up there, it’s one pitch at a time. That method, I think, is the best for me to pitch good and continue to stay not having ups and downs, just having consistent, quality games.”
He picked a good night not to have his best stuff with the Royals pounding out 15 hits, including 11 for extra bases. Billy Butler had two home runs, a double and a single and four RBIs. Mark Teahen had a two-run home run and Mike Aviles had a two-run triple. Brian Tallet (1-1) was charged with 10 runs on 11 hits in four innings.
“(Greinke) was able to throw every pitch for a strike,” Wells said. “He keeps you off balance. He’ll blow you away with a 95 (mph) if he wants to. He was dominant, as he has been all year.”
Yankees 8, Tigers 6: At Detroit, Nick Swisher hit two homers and Joba Chamberlain gave up a run in seven innings to lead New York.
The Yankees won two straight in Detroit by a combined score of 19-6 after losing the series opener and three in a row at Boston for a season-high four-game skid.
Chamberlain (1-0) gave up three hits and three walks.
Red Sox 6, Indians 5, 10 innings: At Cleveland, Jonathan Van Every hit his first major league home run in the 10th inning to cap Boston’s comeback win.
Van Every hit a 1-1 pitch from Jensen Lewis (2-3) to center with two outs after getting an RBI single during Boston’s three-run rally in the eighth.
Hideki Okajima (2-0) worked the ninth for the win. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the 10th for his sixth save in six opportunities.
Twins 8, Rays 3: At Minneapolis, Nick Blackburn (2-1) gave up two runs and eight hits in seven innings, and the Twins roughed up Rays ace Scott Kazmir.
Justin Morneau had three hits, a walk and an RBI for the Twins, who took two of three from the defending AL champions.
Kazmir (3-2) lasted just four innings, the second rough outing in his last three starts. The All-Star lefty gave up eight runs — six earned — and nine hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
Angels 3, Orioles 2: At Baltimore, Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales hit consecutive homers off Koji Uehara in the seventh inning and Shane Loux earned his first win since 2003 as Los Angeles swept the two-game series.
Uehara (2-2) left in the seventh after being struck in the chest by a line drive off the bat of Gary Matthews Jr. The injury was determined to be a bruised sternum. X-rays were negative.
Loux (1-2) gave up one run and five hits in six-plus innings for his first victory since Sept. 24, 2003, with Detroit. It was the fourth start of the season for the right-hander, who entered with a 6.61 ERA.
Brian Fuentes got three outs for his fifth save.
White Sox 6, Mariners 3: At Chicago, slumping Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning to lift the White Sox.
A.J. Pierzynski also homered as the White Sox rallied from a 3-1 deficit and avoided what would have been their first losing April since 2001.
Matt Thornton (1-1) pitched a one-hit seventh in relief of Gavin Floyd. Bobby Jenks pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Shawn Kelley (0-1), who had pitched 7 2-3 scoreless innings over six appearances coming in, relieved Erik Bedard with a 3-1 lead.
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