Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke works on a complete-game victory Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays in Kansas City, Mo.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Zack Greinke talked last winter about a pitcher reaching that perfect blend, where physical ability exactly matches mental ability.
So with a 5-0 record after five starts and a microscopic ERA, is he there?
“I’m trying to get to that,” he said, “but not yet.”
The Kansas City right-hander is close, though. He gave up an earned run for the first time in 43 innings, but Billy Butler backed him up with two homers Wednesday night and the Kansas City Royals pounded 11 extra-base hits in an 11-3 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Vernon Wells’ RBI single with two outs in the first produced the first earned run off Greinke (5-0) since September, a span of six starts. After throwing complete games his two previous starts, Greinke went seven innings, allowing five hits and two runs with two walks and eight strikeouts. He leads the AL with 44 strikeouts.
His ERA climbed from 0.00 to 0.50.
“Usually, two outs, anyone on base, I feel like I could finish it,” Greinke said. “But I threw some pitches right where I wanted to and Vernon Wells, I usually consider him a guy who would chase a good slider.
“But he did a great job. I guess he just said, ‘I’m going to let any fastball go by me and I’m just hitting a straight slider,’ and he won the game out of that.”
Angels 3, Orioles 2: At Baltimore, Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales hit consecutive homers off Koji Uehara in the seventh, Shane Loux earned his first win since 2003 and the Angels won.
White Sox 6, Mariners 3: At Chicago, slumping Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning, leading the White Sox.
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.
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.
Twins 8, Rays 3: At Minneapolis, Nick Blackburn breezed through seven innings and Minnesota roughed up Scott Kazmir from the start.
Athletics at Rangers: The game was postponed due to rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on May 29.
NL: Volquez stymies Astros
CINCINNATI – Edinson Volquez ended the longest current streak of domination in the majors by allowing one hit through eight innings Wednesday night, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros.
The Astros had won their last 11 games at Great American Ball Park since late in the 2007 season, the best such streak in franchise history. They had won 16 of 17 in Cincinnati over the last three years.
Nationals 4, Phillies 1: At Philadelphia, Scott Olsen pitched into the sixth inning and Washington’s beleaguered bullpen held on to snap Philadelphia’s five-game winning streak.
Cardinals 5, Braves 3: At Atlanta, Adam Wainwright overcame five walks and drove in a run during a four-run fifth inning for St. Louis.
Brewers 1, Pirates 0: At Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo struck out a career-high 11 and homered in the seventh inning as Milwaukee got its 15th straight win over the Pirates.
Marlins 4, Mets 3: At New York, Cody Ross hit a two-run single off J.J. Putz in the eighth inning and Jorge Cantu cracked his third homer in two games as the Marlins won.
Rockies 7, Padres 5: At Denver, Aaron Cook pitched seven strong innings for his first win of the season and Todd Helton and Chris Iannetta each drove in three runs for Colorado.
Giants 9, Dodgers 4: At San Francisco, Tim Lincecum allowed six hits and struck out eight while pitching into the eighth inning, and Bengie Molina drove in four runs for San Francisco.