Greinke! Greinke! Greinke! (And all things Zack) - MLB

Kansas City started Anthony Lerew last night rather than the best pitcher in the league, but Zack Greinke still managed to make headlines by getting thrown out of the game from his seat in the dugout. Here’s how Dick Kaegel of MLB.com described the scene:

Greinke was ejected after [home plate umpire Greg] Gibson’s call of a ball that gave Red Sox batter Jacoby Ellsbury a 2-2 count against Royals starter Anthony Lerew. But it wasn’t just that pitch that riled Greinke. He’d been watching Gibson’s calls from the dugout and later from a television in the clubhouse. Finally, he came into the dugout and unloaded verbally.

“I just lost my composure, at least temporarily,” Greinke said. “I don’t usually do that. But it happens sometimes. I did right there, I don’t know why. It wasn’t warranted to be as vocal as I was about it. I was loud because I wanted him to hear me. I shouldn’t have done it. There were no cuss words. I don’t ever say cuss words, so I didn’t do that. I didn’t call him any names, either.”

Greinke’s next start comes Sunday afternoon against the Twins and the Royals are pulling out all the stops for his final home outing of the season, offering half-price tickets, discounted concessions, and “Greinke for Cy” t-shirts for the first 10,000 people through the turnstiles. Greinke is 9-3 with a 1.76 ERA at home this year and his 2.08 ERA overall would be the lowest mark by any AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez’s ridiculous 1.74 in 2000.
He also leads the AL in fewest hits per nine innings, WHIP, and shutouts, ranks second in strikeouts, K/BB ratio, and complete games, and is fifth in innings. To me that’s a slam-dunk Cy Young winner, but because Greinke has just 15 wins thanks to awful teammates some people see it another way. For instance, longtime announcer and former Cy Young winner Steve Stone wrote the following today:

While Greinke seems to be people’s choice for AL Cy Young, take a look at Felix Hernandez. Felix: 17-5. Greinke: 15-8.

Hernandez is an amazing young pitcher having a Cy Young-caliber season, but he just hasn’t been as good as Greinke, slightly better win-loss record or not. Of course, it’s tough to blame Stone for holding that opinion. Not only have people focused on pitcher win-loss records for decades and decades when it comes to determining who’s best, Stone benefited greatly from that focus when he won the award in 1980.
That year he ranked seventh in ERA and ninth in innings, but won a league-high 25 games for a 100-win Orioles team. Stone threw 251 innings with a 3.23 ERA and 149/101 K/BB ratio while Mike Norris of the A’s threw 284 innings with a 2.53 ERA and 180/83 K/BB ratio. Norris threw more innings while allowing fewer runs, had more strikeouts and fewer walks, was the league’s toughest pitcher to hit, and completed three times as many games, but because Stone had three more wins he got the award.
No wonder he views this year’s best pitchers the same way.

ATLANTA – Given a seven-run lead in the first inning, Atlanta right-hander Spencer Strider could relax and keep adding to his majors-leading strikeout total.

“That game felt like it was over pretty quick,” Strider said.

Ronald Acuña Jr. drove in three runs with four hits, including a two-run single in Atlanta’s seven-run first inning, and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-4 on Sunday night to split the four-game series.

“Getting a lead first is big, especially when you get that big of a lead,” Strider said. “… When we’re putting up runs, my job isn’t to be perfect. My job is to get outs.”

Following the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker announced right-hander Michael Soroka will be recalled to make his first start since the 2020 season on Monday night at Oakland.

Matt Olson hit a pair of two-run homers for Atlanta, and Strider became the fastest pitcher in modern history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season.

“It’s incredible,” said Acuña through a translator of Strider. “Every time he goes out to pitch it seems like he’s going to strike everybody out.”

Acuña hit a run-scoring triple in the fifth before Olson’s second homer to center. Acuña had two singles in the first when the Braves sent 11 batters to the plate, collected seven hits and opened a 7-0 lead. Led by Acuña and Olson, who had three hits, the Braves set a season high with 20 hits.

Strider (5-2) struck out nine while pitching six innings of two-run ball. The right-hander fired a called third strike past Nick Castellanos for the first out of the fourth, giving him 100 strikeouts in 61 innings and topping Jacob deGrom‘s 61 2/3 innings in 2021 as the fastest to 100 in the modern era.

“It’s cool,” Strider said, adding “hopefully it’ll keep going.”

Olson followed Acuña’s leadoff single with a 464-foot homer to right-center. Austin Riley added another homer before Ozzie Albies and Acuña had two-run singles in the long first inning.

Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and left fielder Kyle Schwarber each committed an error on a grounder by Orlando Arcia, setting up two unearned runs in the inning.

Strider walked Kody Clemens to open the third. Brandon Marsh followed with a two-run homer for the Phillies’ first hit. Schwarber hit a two-run homer off Collin McHugh in the seventh.

LEAPING CATCH

Michael Harris II celebrated the one-year anniversary of his major league debut by robbing Schwarber of a homer with a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the second. As Harris shook his head to say “No!” after coming down with the ball on the warning track, Strider pumped his fist in approval on the mound – after realizing Harris had the ball.

“He put me through an emotional roller coaster for a moment,” Strider said.

SOROKA RETURNING TO ROTATION

Soroka was scratched from his scheduled start at Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday, setting the stage for his final step in his comeback from two torn Achilles tendons.

“To get back is really a feather in that kid’s cap,” Snitker said.

Soroka will be making his first start in the majors since Aug. 3, 2020, against the New York Mets when he suffered a torn right Achilles tendon. Following a setback which required a follow-up surgery, he suffered another tear of the same Achilles tendon midway through the 2021 season.

Soroka suffered another complication in his comeback when a hamstring injury slowed his progress this spring.

Acuña said he was “super happy, super excited for him, super proud of him” and added “I’m just hoping for continued good health.”

Soroka looked like an emerging ace when he finished 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 2019 and placed second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in the NL Cy Young voting.

The Braves are 0-3 in bullpen committee games as they attempt to overcome losing two key starters, Max Fried (strained left forearm) and Kyle Wright (right shoulder inflammation) to the injured list in early May. Each is expected to miss at least two months.

RHP Dereck Rodriguez, who gave up one hit in two scoreless innings, was optioned to Gwinnett after the game to clear a roster spot for Soroka.

QUICK EXIT

Phillies right-hander Dylan Covey (0-1), claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 20, didn’t make it through the first inning. Covey allowed seven runs, five earned, and six hits, including the homers by Olson and Riley.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: 3B Alex Bohm was held out with hamstring tightness. … LHP José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) threw the bullpen session originally scheduled for Saturday. Manager Rob Thomson said there was no report that Alvarado, who was placed on the injured list on May 10, had any difficulty.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Following an off day, LHP Ranger Suárez (0-1, 9.82 ERA) is scheduled to face Mets RHP Kodai Senga (4-3, 3.94 ERA) in Tuesday night’s opener of a three-game series in New York.

Braves: Soroka was 1-2 with a 4.33 ERA in eight games with Triple-A Gwinnett. He allowed a combined four hits and two runs over 10 2/3 innings in his last two starts. RHP Paul Blackburn (7-6, 4.28 ERA in 2022) is scheduled to make his 2023 debut for Oakland as he returns from a finger injury.