HOUSTON | No, before you ask, Royals manager Trey Hillman didn&rsquo;t come up with the idea of having pitcher Zack Greinke bat eighth Tuesday night against the Astros from one of his weekend conversations with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.</p><p> La Russa typically has pitchers bat eighth.</p><p> &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a lot of research on it,&rdquo; Hillman said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve not spoken to Tony about that. We&rsquo;ve talked a lot of baseball over the last two years, but we didn&rsquo;t talk about his theory (on the pitcher batting eighth).&rdquo;</p><p> Greinke is the first pitcher in Royals&rsquo; history to bat anywhere but ninth in the starting lineup. Center fielder Mitch Maier batted ninth.</p><p> &ldquo;The thought process was more of wanting to bat Mitch and David DeJesus back-to-back,&rdquo; Hillman said, &ldquo;than it was to have Zack hit in front of an every-day position player.&rdquo;</p><p> Hillman said he also wanted to limit the possibility of Greinke &ldquo;blowing out&rdquo; on the bases when the lineup recycled to the top.</p><p> Turns out, it really didn&rsquo;t matter. Greinke and Maier each went hitless in three at-bats. Hillman never had to worry about Greinke running the bases.</p><p> &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel too good up there,&rdquo; Greinke admitted. &ldquo;Three bad at-bats.&rdquo;</p><p> Hillman indicated Greinke is the only pitcher likely to bat eighth this week as the Royals play six straight games under National League rules.</p><p> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not anything that I plan on sticking with,&rdquo; Hillman said. &ldquo;With the starting pitchers we have (today) and the next day, it&rsquo;s not in my plans to do it with any regularity.&rdquo; </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Rehab updates</span></strong></p><p> While outfielder Coco Crisp is headed today for season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right, the medical news isn&rsquo;t all grim.</p><p> Catcher John Buck took part in regular batting practice for the first time since suffering a herniated disk in his back May 30 against the White Sox. Barring a setback, he should depart today on a minor-league rehab assignment.</p><p> Third baseman Alex Gordon was cleared in his latest examination for increased activity and should be ready to start game activity as a designated hitter within a week. Gordon underwent surgery April 17 to repair torn cartilage in his right hip.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Looking ahead</span></strong></p><p> Hillman said the Royals should make a decision either today or Thursday on a replacement for Kyle Davies in the rotation.</p><p> Monday&rsquo;s open date in the schedule means the Royals don&rsquo;t need a fifth starter until Saturday&rsquo;s game at Pittsburgh. The leading candidates appear to be Sidney Ponson and Bruce Chen.</p><p> Davies was optioned last Saturday to Class AAA Omaha, one day after allowing eight runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings against the Cardinals. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">All-Star update</span></strong></p><p> Nine straight home games, many with large crowds, failed to produce the necessary balloting surge to pull any Royals player into the top five at their position in voting to determine the starters for the American League All-Star team.</p><p> Baseball only releases vote totals for the top five at each position in its weekly updates. That includes the top 15 vote-getters for the three outfield spots. There is no balloting for pitchers.</p><p> In-stadium balloting continues through Sunday, but the Royals are on the road this week with three weekend games in Pittsburgh once their series concludes in Houston. Online balloting continues through 10:59 p.m. on July 2 at <a href="http://www.mlb.com">www.mlb.com</a> and the 30 club web sites, including <a href="http://www.royals.com">www.royals.com</a>.</p><p> Each team is guaranteed at least one All-Star when the squads, including reserves and pitchers, are announced July 5 for the July 14 game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.