NewsGreinke wins 10th in rainy finale
Ace's 6 1/3 innings good enough to help KC avoid sweep
By Wayne Staats / MLB.com
06/28/09 6:42 PM ET
PITTSBURGH -- Zack Greinke is back on top of the Majors' victories list. |
Greinke and the Royals survived a 59-minute rain delay and hung on to beat the Pirates, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon in front of 25,888 at PNC Park. The righty won his 10th game of the season, tying him with Roy Halladay, Tim Wakefield and Kevin Slowey for the big league lead.
With the win, the Royals finished Interleague Play at 8-10, the first time they've finished with a losing record against the Senior Circuit since 2004, when they went 6-12.
Greinke didn't return after the delay in the seventh inning, surrendering two runs in 6 1/3 innings on 80 pitches. It was the fewest pitches for Greinke this season, and the first time he didn't crack 100 since his first start of the year on April 8.
"He looked great out there, commanding his fastball and getting guys out of balance," David DeJesus said. "It's tough that the one inning when it's pouring rain that that's when they got their runs, but we were able to keep the lead."
After surrendering at least four runs in two of his first three June starts, Greinke has given up a total of just three runs over 14 1/3 innings in his past two outings.
Besides an effective day on the mound, Greinke also hit a two-out double in the seventh. It was the fourth hit and second double of his career.
"I knew it was double off the bat, because [Nyjer Morgan] was playing me shallow and over," Greinke said. "I just couldn't see where the ball was, so I figured he had it and somehow he got it. I looked a little longer, and he didn't have it, so I just kept going."
Entering the game, Greinke had 111 strikeouts in 109 innings. He only had three Sunday -- tying a season low -- but the ace remained stingy despite periods of rain throughout the game.
"He was working off his fastball and had a biting slider," Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez said. "When you've got a good fastball and a good slider, you're going to be in for a long day. We did the best we could to battle. He just got us today."
The rain slowed Greinke down in the seventh, when Andy LaRoche hit a triple to drive in the first Pirates run. Right before the delay, Greinke appeared to have trouble gripping the ball.
As for how much of an impact the rain had, the pitcher simply said he's pitched better in bad weather before.
Before LaRoche's RBI, Pittsburgh put a runner in scoring position just twice in the first six innings. The first time was on a sacrifice bunt to move Jack Wilson to second base in the third inning, and the second time came after a throwing error by Greinke allowed Morgan to go from first to third in the sixth.
The second Pirates run scored on a RBI groundout by catcher Jason Jaramillo in the first at-bat after the rain delay. Although the RBI brought it to a one-run game, Jamey Wright, John Bale and Joakim Soria combined on 2 2/3 scoreless frames to preserve the win.
The game's five runs came after Greinke and Pirates starter Charlie Morton matched each other with shutout ball over the first three frames. But all that changed in the fourth, when the Royals struck first for the fifth consecutive game.
DeJesus hit his sixth home run of the season in the fourth, breaking out of a 13-at-bat hitless streak. But it was also the center fielder's third home run since June 19.
"I didn't even know it was that -- that's the funniest thing," DeJesus said of the hitless stretch. "Because they said something about it today, and I was like, 'I didn't even know it.' I was able to get a pitch and was able to do something with it. I'm just going to keep working, and that's all I can do."
It didn't take long to add insurance runs for Greinke. In the fifth, Alberto Callaspo and Mark Teahen hit back-to-back doubles as Kansas City grabbed a 2-0 lead for the third time in the series. DeJesus added another RBI with a fielder's choice. Teahen slid home safely right before Jaramillo could apply the tag. DeJesus now has six multi-RBI games this season.
The runs came after Morton faced the minimum nine batters in the opening three innings, thanks to a double play in the first. He retired seven in a row before DeJesus' leadoff shot in the fourth.
The two-run fifth was Morton's last inning, as he gave up three runs on seven hits.
But the Royals didn't score the rest of the game, meaning they put just one run across after the fifth inning during the entire three-game series.
"[It was] just enough," Kansas City manager Trey Hillman said. "We had just enough today. It was good to come out on top and have a .500 road trip."
Wayne Staats is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
