American League roundup

[May 05, 2009]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Zack Greinke threw a 72 mph curveball and a 96 mph fastball on consecutive pitches to Jayson Nix. He rattled Alexei Ramirez with a fastball under the chin, a curveball that had him bailing out, then two more pitches for the strikeout.

Twice Greinke made quick work of White Sox slugger Jim Thome, needing seven pitches in a pair of strikeouts.

Throwing inside and outside, up and down, slow and fast, Greinke started off May with another gem, striking out 10 in a six-hitter for his second shutout in four starts that lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 3-0 win over Chicago on Monday night.

"He's the best in the league right now," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

It's hard to argue.

Greinke (6-0) is the majors' first six-game winner, has a nearly negligible 0.40 ERA and has a majors-best 54 strikeouts. He made it look easy against the White Sox, allowing only a few hard-hit balls and walking none for his third complete game of the season.

"That's very, very exciting. This is what it's all about," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "I'm sure glad he pitches for us."

The right-hander joined Bret Saberhagen (1987) and Jose Lima (2003) as the only pitchers in franchise history to win their first six decisions.

"It was real exciting," Greinke said. "Definitely my favorite game of the year, if not ever."

A.J. Pierzynski and Scott Podsednik each had two hits for Chicago, which continued to struggle offensively and got a shaky start from Bartolo Colon (2-2). The White Sox had just three runners reach scoring position off Greinke and were shut out for the fourth time this season -- second by the Royals -- in their third straight loss.

"Best pitching performance I've seen in a long time by a major league pitcher," Guillen said. "He's got great stuff."

Colon wasn't nearly as efficient.

The big right-hander threw 98 pitches -- 58 for strikes -- in five innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, two earned, with seven strikeouts. Colon hasn't allowed an earned run in 13 innings at home, but has given up 12 in 14 2-3 innings away from Chicago.

"Colon was good -- he was just competing against the wrong guy," Guillen said.

Red Sox 6, Yankees 4

At New York, Jon Lester matched a career high with 10 strikeouts, Mike Lowell and Jason Bay homered and the Red Sox won a rain-delayed game that ended at 1:10 a.m.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched 1 2-3 innings for his seventh save, striking out Robinson Cano with the bases loaded to finish it. Boston improved to 4-0 this season against the Yankees.

Mark Teixeira homered from each side of the plate and Johnny Damon also connected for the Yankees.

Orioles 8, Rays 4

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Nick Markakis hit a three-run homer and Brian Roberts added a two-run shot to help the Orioles stop a six-game skid.

Markakis connected against Scott Kazmir (3-3) in the first. He has a hit in 19 of his last 20 games and has reached base safely in 35 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Danys Baez (2-1) threw two scoreless innings for the win.

Twins 7, Tigers 2

At Detroit, Francisco Liriano had a season-high nine strikeouts and Michael Cuddyer hit a two-run triple in Minnesota's five-run seventh.

Liriano (1-4) allowed four hits, matching a season low, and two runs over 7 1-3 innings to snap his five-game skid dating to last season.

Edwin Jackson (1-2) worked six-plus innings for Detroit, setting season highs with five earned runs and seven strikeouts.

Miguel Cabrera homered for the Tigers.

Indians 9, Blue Jays 7

At Toronto, Josh Barfield singled home the go-ahead run in the 12th inning for the Indians.

Mark DeRosa opened the 12th with a double to right off Shawn Camp (0-1). One out later, Luis Valbuena walked and Barfield followed with a single up the middle, scoring DeRosa.

Grady Sizemore capped the rally with a two-out, two-run double into the right-field corner.

Rafael Betancourt (1-1) pitched two innings for the win.

Jensen Lewis got his first save.

Angels 5, Athletics 2

At Oakland, Calif., Torii Hunter drove in three runs, Joe Saunders pitched six-hit ball into the seventh inning and the Angels won their fifth in seven games.

The California clubs met for the first time since April 8, when Nick Adenhart pitched six scoreless innings against the A's hours before the rookie right-hander dies in a car crash.

Mike Napoli had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs for the Angels, who got another strong start from Saunders (4-1).

Kurt Suzuki hit a solo homer for the weary A's, who dropped their fourth in six games.

Rangers 6, Mariners 5

At Seattle, Chris Davis hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Felix Hernandez in the sixth inning to lead the Rangers.

Davis' drive gave Texas a 6-4 lead and sent Kevin Millwood to his first win over Seattle in his last six starts. Michael Young also hit a two-run drive off Hernandez as the Rangers increased their major league-leading home run total to 46.

Millwood, who retired the first 12 batters he faced, allowed five runs and eight hits in 7 1-3 innings.

[Associated Press; By JOHN MARSHALL]

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