NewsGreinke ready if Royals are in a pinch
Ace put on spikes, prepared to hit in KC's extra-inning win
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
06/25/09 2:05 PM ET
HOUSTON -- Think Zack Greinke isn't paying attention with all the substituting that tends to go on in National League-style games? |
On Wednesday night against the Astros, the Royals' prize pitcher and batsman extraordinaire knew that manager Trey Hillman had used up all five of his bench players. If Hillman needed a pinch-hitter in extra innings, who better than Greinke? After all, the pitcher did bat No. 8 in the lineup in the series opener.
"He pays attention closely enough that when it came to the ninth inning, he went in and put his spikes on, without being told to," Hillman said. "I wish more guys were that attentive."
Greinke knew he'd need his spikes in the batter's box, and when he came back from the clubhouse to the dugout, he made sure that bench coach John Gibbons knew he was ready.
"He walked by Gibby and said, in typical Zack fashion, 'I've got my spikes on,'" Hillman said.
Joakim Soria had pitched the 10th inning and would have been due to bat in the sixth hole in the 11th if it came to that. As it happened, the inning ended two batters short.
What was Hillman thinking?
"What I was just going to do in that inning was to just let Soria go up and stand there," Hillman said. "Or I was considering pinch-hitting Zack. That was a possibility with everything that was happening in last night's game. I'm just glad it didn't come back up."
Ultimately, the Royals won, 4-3, in 11 innings. Soria was lifted after one inning in favor of John Bale, who closed out the Astros for his first save.
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
