Zack Greinke hit the I-70 Series in overdrive.
Greinke beat the St. Louis Cardinals as the Royals took the opening game of the Interleague intrastate series, 4-2, in front of a sellout crowd of 38,916 on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.
The win, Greinke's second in his past three starts, gave him a 3-8 record as he attempts to get his season in a higher gear.
Jeff Suppan, a stalwart starter for the Royals from 1999 through 2002, was back with the Cardinals and back in Kansas City for this start.
He went five innings and gave up three runs in the third. Scott Podsednik lashed a one-out triple and scored as Jason Kendall singled past drawn-in shortstop Felipe Lopez. After a second out, Billy Butler stroked an RBI double to right and Jose Guillen popped a run-scoring single, extending his hitting streak to 19 games.
Greinke, after five smooth innings, wiggled out of a big jam in the sixth. Randy Winn doubled and Skip Schumaker singled before Greinke bounced off the mound for a nice play on Matt Holliday's tap. Albert Pujols walked to load the bases and Greinke went to 3-0 on Ryan Ludwick.
Teetering on the brink of a game-changing experience, Greinke recovered for a full count and got Ludwick to rap into a double play, keeping his lead at 3-0.
There was more excitement for the red-clad fans in the crowd in the eighth, but again Greinke disappointed them. With two on and one out, he retired Holliday on a fly to deep right and got Royals-killer Pujols to ground out.
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