Cleveland gets the best of Kansas City’s ace Greinke

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — In a battle of bullpens, fate favored the guys with all the blown saves.

Cleveland’s Luis Vizcaino, Matt Herges and Rafael Betancourt kept Kansas City at bay Thursday after Royals ace Zack Greinke departed with a one-run lead. Victor Martinez had three RBIs and the Indians pulled away for an 8-3 victory.

“We faced a pitcher who’s at the top of his game every time out and we wore him out, I think,” said Cleveland starter Carl Pavano (4-4), who matched his more celebrated opponent nearly pitch for pitch. “It looked like he was kind of laboring and we got him out of there and were able to get to the bullpen.”

Greinke’s record stayed at 7-1 with his first no-decision in nine starts. He went six innings, gave up a season-high eight hits and left with a 3-2 edge. His major league-leading ERA crept up to 0.82 from 0.60.

The Indians tied it 2-all with two run in the third and loaded the bases before Greinke escaped by striking out Mark DeRosa and Ben Francisco.

“I just wasn’t real crisp. It was really stupid pitching for that whole inning probably,” Greinke said. “I started throwing two-seamers to get ground balls and it’s not really how I pitch. I got behind on everyone because I was throwing the two-seamer. It was just stupid, really stupid.”

Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and two RBIs as Cleveland beat the same opponent two times in a row for the first time this season.

Pavano went six innings, giving up three runs and six hits while striking out eight.

“We made [Greinke] work hard and they made Carl work hard,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said.

Coming in, the Cleveland bullpen was a mess, with nine blown saves in 17 opportunities. Closer Kerry Wood, after working the past two nights, was not available.

“It was left up to the bullpen and our guys really stepped up. It should be a big boost for them,” said Wedge.

Betancourt came in with the bases loaded and none out in the ninth and got a popup and a double-play grounder for his first save in three chances.

Shin-Soo Choo had three hits and two RBIs. He said he thought Greinke’s fastball was better than the last time he faced him.

“It was still 96-97 [mph] but everything was moving,” he said.