Royals-A's: Greinke Dominant as Royals Take Game One

OAKLAND - That's better. The Royals' Zack Greinke could finally smile after leading his team to a 4-2 victory in Oakland on Monday night. Greinke, promoted to the Royals' number one starter for the second half, had struggled in his first two outings since the Mid-summer Classic, but finally showed the Royals why it was a good decision to have him as number one. In his first outing after the break against Chicago, Greinke gave up five runs before recording the first out of the first inning, surrendering a six-run first. In his second outing against Detroit, Greinke gave up five runs in the first three innings before tossing three scoreless ones. However, with Armando Galarraga on the mound for the Tigers, five Detroit runs was more than enough to propel the Tigers to victory. In going 7.1 innings, Greinke, 8-7, surrendered two runs, seven hits, and one walk while striking out 11 Oakland batters. Young right-hander Ramon Ramirez came in the game in the eighth inning ... (link)