Greinke twirls 2nd shutout win for Royals

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Zack Greinke struck out 10 batters and allowed just six hits for his second shutout in four starts as the Kansas City Royals downed the Chicago White Sox, 3-0, on Monday.

More than 6,500 fans bought walk-up tickets – pushing the attendance over 21,000 – to watch Greinke become the major league’s first six-game winner.

The right-hander baffled the White Sox all night, working inside and out, up and down, slow and fast. Greinke (6-0) didn’t walk a batter, dropped his ERA to 0.40 and pushed his majors-leading strikeout total to 54 during his third complete game of the season.

A.J. Pierzynzki and Scott Podsednik each had two hits for the White Sox.

At St. Petersburgh, Florida, Nick Markakis hit a three-run homer and Brian Roberts added a two-run shot to help Baltimore stop a six-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over Tampa Bay.

Markakis, after the first two Baltimore batters walked, made it 3-0 with his three-run shot off Scott Kazmir (3-3) in the first. He has a hit in 19 of his last 20 games, and has reached base safely in 35 straight games, which is the longest active streak in the majors.

After Aubrey Huff had a sacrifice fly and Ty Wigginton hit an RBI double off reliever Joe Nelson in the seventh, Roberts extended the Orioles’ advantage to 8-4 on his eighth-inning homer. Reliever Danys Baez (2-1) threw two scoreless innings for the win. (AP)