Zack Greinke fractures collarbone in bench-clearing brawl

San Diego's Carlos Quentin took offense to being hit by a pitch (and some comments) from Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke in last night's game, which led to a broken left collarbone for Greinke.

When Quentin charged the mound, Greinke lowered his (left) shoulder and that's likely when the injury occurred during what resulted into a benches-clearing brawl.


“That’s just stupid, that’s what it is,” [Dodgers manager Don] Mattingly told reporters, per Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times. “He should not play a game until Zack can pitch.

“He caused the whole thing. Nothing happens if he goes to first base. That’s zero understanding of the game of baseball. He’s not throwing at him 3-2 in a 2-1 game.”

After the game, Matt Kemp and Quentin nearly got into it in the parking lot, but the two were separated by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.

Over the past two seasons, no player was hit more than Quentin: 2011 (23 HBPs) and 2012 (17).

These two teams will play again starting Monday in Los Angeles.

Zack Greinke to start season on DL

After an MRI revealed a hairline fracture in one of his ribs and a bruise in another, Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke is expected to miss the next two to four weeks and start the season on the disabled list.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted that Greinke will miss the first three starts of the season.

Greinke, who has made a couple of spring training appearances, suffered the injury a couple of weeks ago while playing basketball.

"I've been doing this for a couple of years now and people always said, 'You're going to get hurt.' It finally caught up to me, playing basketball," Greinke said, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. I was going up for a rebound and fell on the side. I was hoping it was just bruised. I had a lot of fun doing it but it wasn't worth it."

Greinke won the 2009 AL Cy Young award, but he finished with a record of 10-14, an ERA of 4.17 and 181 strikeouts last year. His ERA the All-Star break (4.72) was a full run higher than what it was before the break (3.71). Despite posting an ERA of 2.16 and striking out 242 batters in 2009, Greinke won only 16 games that year due to a lack of run support.

With the transition to the National League and to a team that should provide greater run support than he received in Kansas City, Greinke should bounce back in 2011 when he returns from injury.

According to Mock Draft Central, Greinke is currently the seventh pitcher and 46th player off the board in fantasy baseball drafts. If folks overreact to the injury news, however, it's possible that Greinke could become a bit of a bargain.

Mid-season Awards: A.L. Cy Young

There is a lot of baseball left to be played this year - roughly, half the season.

That being said, I made my pick a couple of weeks ago for N.L. Cy Young based on all the games played (pitched) up to that point. While I may or may not change my choice (see who here), I'm back at it to pick his A.L. counterpart.

Later this weekend, I will pick my Mid-Season A.L. MVP as well. (Click here to see my N.L. MVP.)

Drum roll please ...

A.L. Cy Young: Zack Grienke, Royals - Grienke got the season off to a perfect start with 38 scoreless innings to begin the season. Although Grienke has hit a bit of a rough patch (losing three of last five decisions), he still leads the majors in ERA (2.00) and is one of only five 10-game winners in baseball.

He has five complete games, which also leads the majors. He is second in the American League in strikeouts (120).

The Royals recent slide has knocked them 11 games out of first in the A.L. Central and has put them 13 games under .500. In the games Grienke (10-4) doesn't get the decision, the Royals are 23-42.

Runner-up: Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - It doesn't get much better than Halladay. He began the season with 13 straight starts of 7 innings or more. In addition, Halladay has thrown three complete games trailing only Grienke.

He's one of only five pitchers to win 10 games on the season. He's third in the A.L. in ERA (2.56) and has given up the fewest walks (14) of pitchers who have thrown 100+ innings. Grienke is the only other player with fewer than 20 walks (19)and 100 innings pitched.

Honorable Mention: Edwin Jackson, Felix Hernandez, Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander, Matt Garza, Nick Blackburn (MIN), Jered Weaver, Kevin Millwood, Josh Beckett

Check back later this weekend for my A.L. Mid-Season MVP

Verlander lowers ERA to 0.85 since April 27th

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander pitched another gem as the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 13-1.

In his last six starts, Verlander has been Zack Greinke-like. Greinke has an ERA of 0.82 on the season.

Verlander has improved to 5-0 with an ERA of 0.85 since April 27th after pitching seven scoreless innings today.

Striking out eight batters today, Verlander now leads the A.L. with 85.

Greinke, Santana are April's pitchers of the month

Kansas City Royals ace Zach Grienke was named the A.L. pitcher of the month for April. He was a perfect 5-0 in the month allowing only two earned runs in 36 innings pitched.

Grienke beat out Felix Hernandez (Mariners), Tim Wakefield (Red Sox) and Roy Halladay (Blue Jays).

So far in May, he's picking up where he left off. He's now 6-0 and has lowered his ERA to 0.40 after pitching a complete game shutout last night.

However, he doesn't believe he's the best pitcher in baseball.

“I think Johan (Santana) and Roy Halladay are the two best pitchers,” Greinke said. “Without a doubt. You’ve got to do it for at least three years. That’s my (guideline). When you do it for three years, then you can put your name in stuff like that.”

Speaking of Santana, he was named the N.L. pitcher of the month for April.

Santana went 3-1 in April with an ERA of 1.10. He struck out 44 batters in 32 2/3 innings.

He beat out Chad Billingsley (Dodgers), Dan Haren (Diamondbacks), Heath Bell (Padres) and Ryan Franklin (Cardinals).

Streak over for Zack Greinke

Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke entered tonight's game against the Detroit Tigers with a scoreless innings pitched streak of 34.

Tonight Greinke pitched another complete game and allowed no earned runs while striking out 10 batters. However, his scoreless innings pitched streak ended at 38 on a throwing error by Mike Aviles.

“He’s got such good stuff,” Tigers catcher Gerald Laird said. “You could tell the last couple innings he kind of just turned it on. He sniffed that complete game, and that’s what the good ones do.”

“It’s fun to watch,” [Royals] third baseman Mark Teahen said. “Tonight, more than anything — maybe it was just the energy or whatever — but he looked unhittable.”

On the season, Greinke is 4-0 with an ERA of 0.00. He has 36 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched.

The Royals are in first place with a record 9-7 ahead of the Tigers and White Sox, who are both 8-8.

Zack Greinke - 34 down, 25 to go

Orel Hershiser holds the record for the longest streak of scoreless innings pitched (59).

After pitching a 2-0 shutout yesterday against the Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke is nine innings closer to reaching that streak.

The former sixth-overall pick in 2002, who is only 25 years old, has thrown 20 scoreless innings so far in 2009. He finished 2008 with back-to-back outings of seven scoreless innings.

"That kind of blew me away," Greinke said when someone told him about Orel Hershiser's record 59-inning scoreless streak after the game. "It's just about impossible to get to 34 nowadays. Fifty-nine, that's impossible. I would have been happy with 20."

Last year, Greinke finished strong posting an ERA of 2.48 in August and 2.18 in September and he's virtually unhittable in 2009.