KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Thanks, Justin Verlander.
Zack Greinke needed that.
Concerned that hitters would start making adjustments and derail his sensational season, Greinke spent the last couple of starts working his brain a little too much. He wasn’t trusting his stuff, not simply bearing down with the varying speeds and laser-like control he owns of oh, so many pitches.
But watching Verlander mow down Kansas City for seven shutout innings Monday helped Greinke make an important change. The result was a six-hitter in a 6-1 Royals victory over Detroit on Tuesday night that had Verlander’s teammates shaking their hands in exasperated admiration.
“He’s throwing strikes, getting ahead,” Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge said. “If a guy gets ahead, he can use all of his pitches. He makes the hitter start thinking a little bit more. For him, he gets ahead, and your guess is as good as mine.”
Besides taking a lesson from Verlander, Greinke (8-1) also enjoyed the best stuff he’s had all year. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter while recording his fifth complete game this season and the eighth of his career.
going to do, I was like, `I couldn’t hit him.’ So just stay with what you do and stop thinking so much.
“I think it helped me a lot for today.”
Greinke felt so good, he could hardly believe the Tigers scored a run in the first on Magglio Ordonez’s RBI single.
“After I got going, I could feel the command,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid to throw a ball 2-2 to get to 3-2. I wasn’t afraid 1-0 to throw a curveball for a strike, or behind the count to throw any pitch. When you’re doing that, it makes pitching a lot easier and hitting a lot harder. It’s not very often when you can do that.”
Greinke has allowed seven earned runs in 75 innings for an ERA of 0.84. No one else is even close. Toronto’s Roy Halladay is the only other pitcher in the majors with eight wins.
“He’s got a put-away slider,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “He’s got a get-me-over curveball for strike one. He can get anywhere from 89 to 98 (mph) with his fastball when he wants to. He’s got a good changeup. That’s a lot of equipment. He’s become a real cool customer and very impressive.”
Mitch Maier came off the bench in the fifth inning when center fielder Coco Crisp’s shoulder got sore and drove in three runs. Jose Guillen homered and drove in two as Edwin Jackson (4-3) took his first loss after three straight wins.
The way Greinke was throwing, Jackson needed a shutout to win.
can throw from 93 (mph) and he can hump it up to close to 100 if he wants to,” Inge said about Greinke. “He has a sinker if he wants to throw it. He has a changeup. The fun part comes when he has a slow curve and he can make it a little faster.
“He’s one of the very few guys I’ve seen that can manipulate the ball the way he wants to.”
Rangers 7, Yankees 3
At Arlington, Texas, Chris Davis homered twice and Jarrod Saltalamacchia made up for a rough game behind the plate by driving in the go-ahead run.
Mark Teixeira homered for New York and center fielder Melky Cabrera left with a shoulder injury. The start was delayed 2 hours, 24 minutes because of rain.
Indians 5, Rays 1
At Cleveland, Carl Pavano (5-4) won for the fifth time in six starts and Ryan Garko hit one of four Indians homers.
Asdrubal Cabrera, Kelly Shoppach and Mark DeRosa also connected for Cleveland, which won for the fifth time in seven games and earned its 15th consecutive home win over the Rays since Sept. 29, 2005.
Twins 5, Red Sox 2
At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau’s three-run homer capped a five-run fifth against Jon Lester (3-5).
Nick Blackburn (4-2) struck out a career-high seven in seven innings. Minnesota has homered in nine straight games, its longest streak since 12 in a row in 2002.
Boston dropped slumping star David Ortiz to No. 6 in the lineup.
ls 2
At Anaheim, Calif., Jayson Nix homered twice off Joe Saunders (6-3) for his first career multihomer game, and Bartolo Colon (3-4) carried a shutout into the seventh inning against his former team.
Scott Linebrink earned his first save this season.
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 2
At Baltimore, Aubrey Huff, Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold homered, Jason Berken won his major league debut and the Orioles stretched Toronto’s losing streak to eight.
Only 10,130 fans – the smallest crowd in the 18-year history of Camden Yards – showed up on a miserable night.
Athletics 4, Mariners 3
At Oakland, Calif., Jason Giambi’s two-run single capped a four-run rally in the seventh that made a winner of starter Dallas Braden (4-5). Seattle wasted six scoreless innings by Jarrod Washburn.
Add A Comment