Reliever Neal Musser stranded the tying and winning runs in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon as the Royals held on for a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Tucson Electric Park.
The Royals, 13-11, built leads of 5-1 and 6-2 behind Zack Greinke, who limited the White Sox to two runs and four hits in six innings. Greinke struck out six and walked one.
“He pitched better today than he has the whole spring,” manager Trey Hillman said. “He mixed his pitches well and located his fastball.”
Greinke’s effort was the third straight strong start from rotation’s big three.
Gil Meche allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings Friday in an 8-3 victory over the Mariners; Brian Bannister gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings Saturday in a 3-2 loss to the Padres in 10 innings.
“It really couldn’t be much better from all three of those guys,” Hillman said. “Hopefully we can keep going with the other four we have to evaluate and go from there.”
REGULAR GUYS
Most of the regulars remained back in Surprise, but Ryan Shealy opened the Royals’ scoring with a one-out homer in the second against Chicago starter John Danks. Shealy just missed a three-run homer in the seventh on a fly to deep right against reliever Matt Thornton.
ARMS RACE
Greinke got stronger in each of his five spring starts. In all, he gave up 12 runs and 18 hits in 20 innings but just three runs and seven hits in his last 11 innings.
“I was a little worried at the start of spring training,” he said. “I started off way worse than I ever imagined. The first game was horrible. I had no idea where anything was going or what it was going to do. I just felt lost out there.
“The last two outings, I’ve been really happy with how they’ve been.”
The White Sox got their first run after Jerry Owens led off the first inning with a bloop triple to right. Carlos Quentin opened the fifth inning with a homer.
MOVES AND DEALS
The Royals reduced their camp roster to 43 players before the game by optioning right-hander Luke Hochevar to Class AAA Omaha. The club needs to get down to 24 by next Sunday because they must play short-handed for the length of Miguel Olivo’s five-game suspension.
Olivo is appealing his suspension, which stems from an on-field fight last September while a member of the Florida Marlins.
INJURY UPDATES
Olivo tested his strained right groin in a minor-league game. If there are no day-after problems, he should be available for tonight’s game against the Dodgers.
NOTABLES
•Damon Hollins continued his strong spring by going three for four with three RBIs. Hollins raised his average to .390 (16 for 41) and boosted his club-leading RBI total to 15.
•Joey Gathright got his ninth steal in nine attempts when he swiped third on a front end of a double steal in third. Alberto Callaspo stole second on the play.
•The Royals are 26 for 35 as a team on stolen-base attempts.
ON DECK
The Royals get a look at the guy who got away tonight when they face Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda at 8:05 Central time at Surprise Stadium. The Royals made a strong bid last winter to sign Kuroda as a free agent when he opted to leave Japan after 11 seasons with the Hiroshima Carp.
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