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KANSAS CITY, Mo.(AP) Walking through Kauffman Stadium for the first time since returning from hip surgery, Royals third baseman
Alex Gordon
looked over and saw teammate
Zack Greinke
arriving for his next start.
''There's the man,'' Gordon said. ''You're the guy I've been hearing about.''
For good reason.
Baseball's best pitcher in April, Greinke kicked off May with another gem: 10 strikeouts in a six-hitter for his second shutout
in four starts. The right-hander didn't walk a batter and baffled the
White Sox
all night to become majors' first six-game winner, lifting Kansas City to a 3-0 win over
Chicago White Sox
on Monday.
''He's the best in the league right now,''
White Sox
manager
Ozzie Guillen
.
Greinke's superb start has energized a moribund franchise, making baseball in Kansas City fun again. More than 6,500 fans
bought walk-up tickets - pushing the attendance to 21,843 - to watch Greinke's sixth start of the season and he didn't disappoint.
The boyish-looking 25-year-old had the
White Sox
guessing all night, working inside and out, up and down, slow and fast. Greinke (6-0) allowed only a handful of hard-hit balls,
worked through a small jam in the eighth inning and used the energy from the raucous crowd to finish his third complete game
of the season.
''It was real exciting,'' said Greinke, who dropped his ERA to a nearly negligible 0.40 and pushed his strikeouts to a majors-best
54. ''Definitely my favorite game of the year, if not ever.''
It wasn't for the
White Sox
.
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.''
Greinke hadn't allowed an earned run in 43 innings before giving up two to Toronto in his last outing. He still won the game,
striking out eight in seven innings, and was even better against Chicago.
Greinke started off by throwing a 72 mph curveball and a 96 mph fastball on consecutive pitches to
Jayson Nix
in the first inning, then rattled
Alexei Ramirez
in the third with a fastball below the chin, a knee-buckling curveball and two more pitches for the strikeout.
Greinke made short work of
Jim Thome
during Ks in the middle innings, then got Chicago's slugger to pop up for the final out, joining
Bret Saberhagen
(1987) and
Jose Lima
(2003) as the only pitchers in franchise history to win their first six decisions.
''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.''
Colon wasn't nearly as efficient.
The big right-hander, who's been so good at Cellular Field, struggled again in a road start, working deep into just about
every count. He 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.
Kansas City scored the unearned run in the second inning, when Podsednik bobbled
Alberto Callaspo
's single in right, allowing
Jose Guillen
to score. Colon hurt himself in the third, leaving an 0-2 pitch in the heart of the plate to
David DeJesus
, who lifted a solo homer just over the wall in right. Three batters later,
Billy Butler
made 3-0 with a run-scoring single up the middle.
''Colon was good - he was just competing against the wrong guy,'' Guillen said.
Notes:
White Sox
RF
Jermaine Dye
missed his second straight game with a bruised left hand, but could be back in the lineup Tuesday against the Royals. 3B
Josh Fields
could be out until Wednesday with the same injury. ... DeJesus' homer was his third.
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