Royals’ starting pitcher Zack Greinke went winless in the month of the July after the bullpen was unable to hold a lead as the Orioles beat the Royals 7-3 in Baltimore on Wednesday night.
Greinke gave up a two run homer to Alex Jones in the first inning, but settled in after that to go six innings and leave with a 3-2 lead. The bullpen failed again. In the seventh, Robinson Tejada walked the only two batters he faced, before giving way to John Bale who lasted just a third of an inning giving up two hits and a walk, before Juan Cruz was called to end the inning.
Cruz ran into trouble in the eighth and had two runs charged to his ERA after Ron Mahay gave up a couple of hits that scored two more runs.
Greinke went 0-3 in the July despite having a 2.53 ERA. He allowed just nine earned runs in 32 innings this month.
After the 2-0 lead, the Royals got to Orioles’ rookie pitcher Chris Tillman with solo homers from Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo in the 2 nd inning. The Royals went up on top in the 4 th on Mike Jacobs’ 14 th homer of the year.