Twins solve Greinke, gain ground on Sox
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Twins can't seem to explain why they have so much success against Kansas City ace Zack Greinke. For whatever reason, they just seem to have Greinke's number.
If they keep playing the way they have been recently, it won't be long before they have the White Sox' number as well.
Brian Duensing allowed 1 run and struck out seven over 8 innings, and the Twins continued an impressive run of success against Greinke with a 4-3 victory Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.
Duensing (8-2) allowed 6 hits and dropped his ERA to 2.02. J.J. Hardy homered and Denard Span added a 2-run triple for the Twins, who have won six straight to take a 51/2-game lead over the Sox in the AL Central.
"If you can beat Greinke, it's a good win," said Duensing, whose Twins went 8-1 on the homestand.
Greinke (8-12) fell to 0-4 with an 8.18 ERA against the Twins this season. He allowed 4 runs and 5 hits with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks in 8 innings.
"It's like they make adjustments faster than I can make adjustments," Greinke said. "Every time they get on base, they strung a rally together. Instead of stopping them when I needed to they come up with big hits."
The Royals scored twice in the ninth off Matt Capps on a groundout from Brayan Pena and a single from Alex Gordon. But Capps got pinch hitter Mitch Maier to fly out for his 11th save in 13 tries.
Duensing, who was moved from the bullpen to the rotation July 23 to take the place of the struggling Nick Blackburn, has allowed 1 earned run or fewer in 4 of his last 5 starts.
"Duensing was unbelievable," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We're facing one of the best pitchers in our league and it's always going to be a battle against that guy. That's what we did. We battled."
Greinke was mowing down the Twins through 42/3 innings, getting eight groundball outs and 2 strikeouts while Kansas City went ahead 1-0 on a single by Pena in the second.
The reigning AL Cy Young winner had 2 walks and the Twins got another baserunner on an error by first baseman Wilson Betemit, but Greinke didn't allow a hit until the Twins had two outs in the fifth.
Greinke walked designated hitter Jose Morales, who was filling in after Jim Thome was scratched with a mild abdominal strain. The Twins jumped on the next 3 pitches they saw from Greinke, getting a single by Hardy, an RBI single by Matt Tolbert and a 2-run triple from Span to take a 3-1 lead.
It was the second straight start that Greinke had taken a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Last time he took a 4-0 lead into the seventh against Detroit before allowing 4 runs in a no-decision.
"Zack threw great," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He got to the fifth inning and you're thinking they don't have a hit and he's throwing the ball really well. It's a real good offensive lineup and then they string together a walk and 3 hits and put 3 runs on the board."
Hardy, who has overcome a sore wrist and is hitting .444 with 8 RBI in his last five games, hit his sixth homer of the year in the seventh inning for a 4-1 lead. The Twins entered the game hitting .365 with 16 earned runs in 14 innings against Greinke.
"Nothing you do against Zack Greinke is easy," Gardenhire said before the game.
The Twins just make it look that way.