Zack Greinke has had bad luck and bad outings this season. At times he couldn’t get any run support, other times he gave the opponents plenty of run support. On Monday he did everything right in a 4-0 win over the Indians.
Greinke (3-11) lasted seven innings and gave up no runs, four hits, a walk and struck out four in a 4-0 win over the Indians in Cleveland. Three of the hits Greinke allowed came in the first three innings. After that, he retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced and was pulled after the seventh inning.
Ambiorix Burgos battled through an infield single by Aaron Boone to get out of the eighth inning harmlessly. In the ninth, Mike MacDougal put down the side to secure the win. The three pitchers combined for a five-hitter and their second shutout in three games. It’s only the second shutout all season.
The Indians have given starter Kevin Millwood no help at all lately. They have been shutout in each of his last three starts. He fell to 3-9, despite seeing his ERA fall to 3.34.
The Royals got on the board in the second inning, when Emil Brown blasted a two-run homer off Millwood. It was Brown’s ninth home run of the season.
Kansas City made it 4-0 in the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Mark Teahen and an RBI double from David DeJesus, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games. DeJesus is hitting .436 during the streak and has upped his average to .299 for the season.