Oakland @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( Mar 27, 2010 ) Oakland 12, Kansas City 14
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is finally pitching the way he did last season. But not all is well as Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke takes the mound Friday for the first time since the All-Star break.
Greinke was scratched from his last start before due to shoulder soreness, and the issue is still lingering as he prepares to pitch against the visiting Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.
Greinke hurt the shoulder making a throw to first base on a bunt play in the third inning against the Seattle Mariners on July 6. He remained in the game and allowed just two hits over seven innings.
So when the pain persisted, Greinke was scratched from last Sunday’s scheduled start. It is hoped that nine full days of rest will be beneficial to his ailing shoulder.
Greinke has been pitching superbly over the last month and has won his last four decisions. The winning streak improved his record to 5-8.
His 3.71 earned-run average represents a sharp decline from the 2.16 ERA he posted last season when he was the top pitcher in the AL.
Beating Oakland hasn’t been a problem for Greinke – he’s 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA against the Athletics.
Athletics first baseman Daric Barton (.600 in five at-bats), catcher Kurt Suzuki (.385 in 13 at-bats) and second baseman Mark Ellis (.364 in 11 at-bats) have had success against Greinke, while outfielders Ryan Sweeney (.154 in 13 at-bats) and Jack Cust (.077 in 13 at-bats) have struggled.
Left-hander Gio Gonzalez (7-6, 3.79 ERA), the starter for Oakland, runs hot and cold.
In his last start, Gonzalez allowed five runs and eight hits in four innings while losing to the New York Yankees. Five days earlier, he pitched 6 2/3 innings of five-hit shutout ball as Oakland blanked the Cleveland Indians.
The two starts were typical of Gonzalez’s season. He has made two career starts against Kansas City, going 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA.
While Kansas City went 39-49 before the break and resides in fourth place in the AL Central, the Royals have received stellar hitting from the quartet of outfielders David DeJesus and Scott Podsednik, first baseman Billy Butler and designated hitter Jose Guillen.
DeJesus, Podsednik and Butler all had 100 hits before the All-Star break, marking just the second time in franchise history that three Kansas City players had done so. The other time was in 1999, when outfielders Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon and third baseman Joe Randa were all over the century mark.
DeJesus (.326) and Butler (.322) rank seventh and eighth in the AL in hitting, respectively, and Podsednik has 25 steals to go with a .301 average.
Meanwhile, Guillen leads the Royals in homers (15) and RBIs (54) after having a sub-par 2009 campaign in which he had just nine homers and 40 RBIs.
Oakland (43-46) resumes play as the third-place team in the AL West. The Athletics are tied for the least number of homers (57) in the majors. Suzuki leads the team with 10 homers.