KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Veteran Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke tossed five scoreless innings to earn his third win in his last four starts. The club closed out a seesaw series and took two of three from their division rivals, the Cleveland Guardians.
The Royals bounced back after getting trounced the previous day to win the rubber match 5-1 against the Guardians in front of an announced 13,282 in the finale of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday. Greinke hit another of his numerous career milestones in the outing.
Royals outfielder Kyle Isbel went 2 for 4 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Isbel drove in the first run of the day for the Royals and scored their last, while Hunter Dozier went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles.
Infielder Nicky Lopez (1 for 3, walk, RBI, run), designated hitter MJ Melendez (1 for 4, 2 RBIs) and left fielder Andrew Benintendi (1 for 3, walk, RBI, run) all drove in runs for the Royals (32-52).
Royals rookie shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (1 for 4) also doubled.
Royals two-time All-Star infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield came out of the game after the fourth inning due to what the club termed “right toe discomfort.” Merrifield was scheduled to get reevaluated after the game.
Merrifield has the longest active streak of consecutive games played in the majors. He has played in 553 consecutive games, a franchise record, dating back to June 25, 2018.
Greinke, now in his 19th season in the majors, also surpassed another historic benchmark in his career when he threw his 50,00th pitch in the majors.
With his sixth pitch in the third inning, he became the 17th pitcher since that data began being tracked in 1988 to reach that plateau. He joined former teammate Justin Verlander (50,341) as the only active pitchers to eclipse that mark.
Greinke, the second-oldest pitcher to start a game for the Royals (38 years, 262 days), reached the 50,000-pitch milestone on a fastball that Guardian leadoff hitter Steven Kwan smacked to center field for a lineout.
The Royals went 4 for 12 with runners in scoring position, and they had a pair of two-out RBIs in a 10-hit performance.
