Let’s just give Zack Greinke the Cy Young Award right now. Greinke picked up his 16 th win going seven innings while allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out eight as the Royals beat the Twins 4-1.
Greinke has won his last five decisions, three starts in a row and in that span has given up just four earned runs in 50 innings over the last seven starts. Greinke also has 237 strikeouts and would nine more in his final start to pass Dennis Leonard for the all-time season high for the Royals.
His next start should come Saturday at Minnesota where, with Sunday’s win, would be just his second appearance against the Twins this season. In looking at the other division opponents, Greinke pitched against Chicago five times and was 2-2, but they didn’t figure Greinke out until the third start. Against Detroit, he was 3-1 in five starts and they never really figured him out and Cleveland, where he was 2-0 in five starts, only scored three runs on him once.
So, the numbers would suggest that Greinke would still hold the upper hand against the Twins and after striking out eight in seven innings, I believe would have every opportunity to try to do that again in his next start.
Plus, the fact that Minnesota is gearing up for a big four game series against Detroit trailing the Tigers by two games. If the Twins lose ground on the Tigers, I think Greinke has a great chance to beat the strikeout record.
The fact that Greinke has won his last five decisions, gives him enough wins, the one pitching area where he lacked with the other top AL pitchers, to justify that he is the best pitcher in the league.
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