Greinke Wins His Ninth Game

Game Date: June 23, 2009 
Kansas City @ Houston
Royals 2, Astros 1 / Box Score
WP: Greinke (9-3), LP: Ortiz (3-3), SV: Soria (8)
KC Home Runs: Butler (7)
Royals Record: 30-39 / Record in June 7-12

So Trey Hillman pulled a La Russa tonight and hit Zack Greinke eighth. It’d didn’t backfire on him, nor did it help much. Both Greinke and Mitch Meier, who hit ninth, were 0-for-3. Greinke had a good night on the mound though, pitching eight strong innings and picking up his ninth win of the season.

After Billy Butler crushed a solo home run in the third inning to give the Royals a 2-1 lead, I didn’t think it would hold up, but it did. Greinke didn’t have great control of his fastball, but he was able to get outs when he needed them. And the defense wasn’t horrible behind him. At least they didn’t commit any errors.

Joakim Soria wasn’t exactly stellar in the ninth inning. He gave up a single to Miguel Tejada and another single to Lance Berkman. But he got two big strikeouts and a ground out to end the game.

The Royals needed this win. They haven’t won a game since last Tuesday when they beat the Diamondbacks 5-0 in the first game of that series. Since then they have been outscored 53-21. Let’s hope they can win one of the next two in Houston to capture this series.

Tomorrow night, Luke Hochevar (2-3, 6.61) goes up against Roy Oswalt (3-4, 4.48). Hochevar has never faced the Astros. Oswalt is 1-0 in his career against the Royals with a 1.13 ERA in 8.0 IP.