Saturday, October 3, 2009

Greinke Is Still the Man

bY bO aLLEGRUCCI

Playing in front of a national TV audience against the playoff contending Minnesota Twins Saturday in Minneapolis, the Kansas City Royals showed you why Zack Greinke is the American League Cy Young award winner for 2009.

Greinke himself didn't necessarily show you why he's the best pitcher in the AL, however, and one bad inning (the bottom of the sixth) may have cost Kansas City's ace the Cy Young in question. Twins starter Nick Blackburn took a perfect game into the fifth against the impotent Royal offense, but Mike Jacobs and Alberto Callaspo led off the fifth with consecutive singles. Any legitimate major-league lineup would score at least those two runs in a similar situation, but KC has no legitimate major-league lineup.

Mark Teahen bunted the runners over to second and third like a true pro, but Miguel Olivo grounded Blackburn's first pitch -- a fastball in front of his neck -- weakly to shortstop for out number two. Blackburn -- who yields a .323 batting average with the bases empty yet .234 with runners in scoring position -- coaxed and inning-ending pop-up out of Alex Gordon to preserve the scoreless tie.

Greinke is used to that sort of thing, and he got through the bottom of the fifth in one piece before the Twins showed Kansas City how small-market, small ball is played in the bottom of the sixth. Nick Punto drew a leadoff walk before taking second on Denard Span's sacrifice bunt and third on Orlando Cabrera's groundout.

AL batting champion and possible MVP Joe Mauer was up with two outs, and Greinke was a pitch away from getting out of the inning when Mauer pulled a 1-2 fastball into rightfield for an RBI single. Jason Kubel then sliced a high fly ball down the left field line that went off the glove of Royal left fielder Willie Bloomquist and into the stands for a ground-rule double, putting runners on second and third with two outs.

Greinke then made a pair of un-Greinke-like mistakes, skimming Michael Cuddyer with an inside fastball to load the bases before Delmon Young unloaded them with a 3-run double to right. Teahen took a terrible angle on Young's fly ball and didn't even get close to a ball that could've been caught.

The Twins led 4-0 before Greinke finally got out of it, but both the game and the Cy Young campaign were in serious jeopardy. Kansas City chased Blackburn and eventually tied the game at 4 in the top of the eighth to give Greinke a no-decision, but a Cuddyer solo homerun put Minnesota back in front in the bottom of the eighth before Joe Nathan sealed the hatch in the ninth.

Give the Twins credit: they HAD to beat the AL's best pitcher Saturday to catch the division-leading Detroit Tigers, and with Detroit falling to the White Sox Saturday evening, the American League Central comes down to the final day of the season with the Twins and Tigers tied for first.

Greinke didn't take the loss Sunday, but he didn't get his 17th win either, meaning he will tie the all-time record for fewest wins by a Cy Young winner should he win the award. Greinke finishes the season 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and a career-high 242 strikeouts, the second most K's in Royals franchise history. He will win the American League ERA title, finish second in strikeouts, complete games (6) and shutouts (3), fifth in ininnings pitched (career-high 229 and a third), and sixth in wins with a Triple-A offense and a Double-A defense surrounding him on KC's roster.
Wins are a team statistic, even when credited to a pitcher, and since the Cy Young is an individual award, Greinke should be judged on his individual stats and not his team's ineptitude. Kansas City's No. 1 starter absorbed nine no-decisions this season, meaning he might have 22 or 23 wins on a decent team and possibly 27 or 28 on a good team right about now.

Saturday was a perfect illustration of why Greinke should win the Cy Young, and also an illustration of why he probably won't. Seattle Mariner ace Felix Hernandez had a Cy Young-quality season for a team that was a little bit better than the Royals yet every bit as obscure in the Pacific time zone. Detroit's Justin Verlander had his best season to date, and any Yankee that wins 19 games -- C.C. Sabathia in this case -- will be in the discussion as well. But, the only American League pitcher who has any business taking the Cy Young away from Greinke would be Hernandez.

Anybody who watched this season from start to finish knows even that would be a crime.

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