News
Figgins & Co. take second crack at Zack
Los Angeles (79-54) at Kansas City (51-83), 4:10 p.m. PT
By Rustin Dodd / MLB.com
09/05/09 12:02 AM ET
KANSAS CITY -- Start with the numbers.That's where Chone Figgins says to start, so we'll start with them.
The Royals' Zack Greinke is leading the American League with a 2.32 ERA. He also leads the lead with six complete games, including three shutouts.
His victory total -- 13 -- has been stunted by anemic run support, but the raw stats say he's as good as any pitcher in the league.
"The numbers say he is," Figgins said, "so that means he is."
The Angels will get their second crack at Greinke on Saturday when the club enters its second game of a four-game set in Kansas City.
And when the Halos step into the batter's box, they'll be facing a Greinke who's coming off two straight dominating performances.
Greinke recorded a franchise-record 15 strikeouts while allowing just two runs against Cleveland on Aug. 25. He followed that up by tossing a one-hit shutout at Seattle in his last start.
"He's making his pitches," Figgins said. "That's with any pitcher. If he makes his pitches. He's gonna get hitters out. And that's something that he's doing. Good pitching always beats good hitting any day. And over the course of the season he's been able keep hitters off balance."
The Angels, however, have some experience handling Greinke. They handed the Royals ace his first loss of the season on May 9 at Angel Stadium.
Greinke allowed just one run on four hits in eight innings, but Joe Saunders one-upped Greinke with a shutout.
This time Greinke will see a slight change in the Angels lineup.
An offensive lull in Seattle prompted manager Mike Scioscia to shuffle some names -- he moved Maicer Izturis into the two-hole, bumped Bobby Abreu to third, and followed that up with Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales hitting fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
"I think we've been hit-and-miss for maybe 12-to-15 games here where we're either scoring big or we're not making anything happen," Scioscia said.
If Figgins is starting with numbers, then Greinke may be taking a broader scope when analyzing the Angels.
"I think their team is put together as good as it gets," Greinke said. "Their pitching staff, their defense, their hitting, their manager -- it's just a really good all-around team. There's not a weakness on it."
On Friday, Greinke couldn't remember the year when the Angels won their only World Series. Of course, he was just 19-years-old during the Angels' World Series title run in 2002, so that's not much of a shock.
But Greinke does remember that team, and in his opinion, the 2009 version of the Angels is probably better than the 2002 team.
"It's tougher than the Yankees lineup because the Yankees you can strike guys out and stuff," Greinke said. "[The Angels are] not going to strike out. They're going to put together good at-bats. The Yankees or Boston, if you pitch really good to 'em, you can do good. This team, it's hard to stop 'em."
Pitching matchupLAA: RHP John Lackey (9-7, 3.92 ERA)
Lackey was razor-sharp in a milestone win on Sunday at home against the Athletics, joining Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana, Chuck Finley and Mike Witt as the only pitchers in franchise history with 100 or more victories. Lackey gave up an unearned run in the third inning and was on top of his game the rest of the way, yielding five hits and two walks across eight innings and striking out eight. Only Roy Halladay has a better ERA among AL pitchers since 2005 than Lackey, who owns a 3.50 ERA in that span. Lackey has struggled against the Royals, going 2-3 with a 3.64 ERA in seven career starts and is 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in two Kauffman Stadium outings. KC: RHP Zack Greinke (13-8, 2.32 ERA)
From a 15-strikeout victory over the Indians, Greinke went to a one-hit, 3-0 win over the Mariners last Sunday. This time he struck out a mere five and walked only one, giving up only a second-inning single to Kenji Johjima. As usual, Greinke was on target and of his 114 pitches, 74 were for strikes. Although the Royals are just 13-14 in the games Greinke has started, it hasn't been his fault. They've scored only 3.7 runs per start for him while he maintains the AL's best ERA. He also has six complete games and three shutouts in a Cy Young-worthy season. Tidbits
The Angels entered the series second in the AL behind the Yankees in runs with 747, while the Royals are last with 543 runs scored. ... Entering Friday, the Angels were 30-10 against the Royals in their past 40 games. They were also 19-5 in their past 24 games at Kauffman Stadium. ... Following their four-game series in Kansas City, the Angels will play 17 of their final 26 games against teams with winning records. Tickets
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• Official game notes On television
• KCOP On radio
• KLAA 830, KWKW 1330 (Español) Up next
• Sunday: Angels (Joe Saunders, 11-7, 5.02) at Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-8, 5.74), 11:10 a.m. PT
• Monday: Angels (Ervin Santana, 7-7, 5.68) at Royals (Kyle Davies, 6-9, 5.71), 11:10 a.m. PT
• Tuesday: Angels (Scott Kazmir, 8-8, 5.68) vs. Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 14-5, 2.65), 7:05 p.m. PT
Rustin Dodd is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
