Greinke Doing OK, Expected to Start Tuesday

Greinke's X-Rays Negative

Luckily for Royals fans, Greinke’s X-rays came back negative and he is expected to make his next scheduled start:

X-rays were taken after the game and were negative, and while Greinke had the imprint of the seams of the ball just above his right elbow, he was fine. His next scheduled start is Tuesday against Boston, but that is still up in the air right now, as it will depend on how he feels during the next couple of days.

“I don’t remember even moving out there, but when I saw it [on video], I thought, ‘Man, I was sort of close to catching it,’” Greinke told the team Web site. “But still not even close, I didn’t even get a glove on it.”

However, it appears that even though Greinke didn’t dodge the ball, his fantasy owners may have dodged a bullet, and if I had to speculate, I would bet that Greinke does indeed make his next scheduled start.

Win No. 14 for Greinke; Tigers Keep Central Interesting

And it’s final: Royals win 9-2, thus taking two-of-three from the Tigers.

The victory gives Greinke his 14th win of the season.

The loss puts the Tigers just four games ahead of the Twins in the A.L. Central. Detroit heads to the dome to play three against the Twins starting tomorrow night. If the Twins can win that series, the last couple weeks of September will be awfully interesting in that division, especially considering the Tigers and Twins have a four game series at the end of the month.

Greinkie Finished After Five Innings

So much for Zach going another couple innings. With swelling in his elbow, Hillman decided to pull Greinke before the start of the sixth in favor of Bruce Chen, who proceeded to promptly blow the shutout, giving up a two-run homer to Cabrera. K.C. leads 8-2.

As for Greinkie, he’ll fail to extend his quality starts total to 25, which would tie Felix Hernandez for the A.L. lead. He did, however, K eight through five scoreless innings, which will obviously improve his league-best ERA.

Status Officially Elevated to 'Dealing'

Tigers hitters don’t even stand a chance right now. It’s official: Zack Greinke is straight dealing. He’s now K’d eight total, including two in the bottom of the 5th. Still throwing a shutout, obviously.

At Royals Review, they’re quite pleased that manager Trey Hillman left Greinke in after being hit by that liner. He’s only thrown 77 pitches, so we should see him for at least another inning or two.

Greinke Takes Line Drive Off Throwing Elbow

In the bottom of the 4th, Greinke took a sharp line drive directly off his throwing elbow from the bat of Miguel Cabrera. He promptly located the ball, threw Cabrera out, and then stayed in the game after a few warm-up pitches. Because that’s why Cy Youngs do.

We shall see how/if it affects him through the rest of the game.

Run Support, Greinke's Got It

The Royals extended their lead in the third inning to 5-0 after Miguel Olivo blasted a three-run bomb, his 21st homer of the season. Greinke gave up a couple hits in the bottom of the frame, but worked out of it thanks in part to a double play.

We’re now 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth after the Royals went down in order in the top of the inning.

Greinke Looking Good So Far, K's 4 Through 2 Innings

Zack Greinke struck out the first two batters he faced, and followed with two more strikeouts in the second inning. He’s held the Tigers scoreless so far. The Royals are leading by two runs going into the top of the third inning, and Greinke sure looks like a Cy Young winner through the first two innings. Stay tuned to SBNation, or check out MLB.com’s surprisingly awesome game tracker to keep tabs on the action.

Live: Zack Greinke Looks to Improve Cy Young Resume vs. Tigers

Zack Greinke, the current front-runner for the A.L. Cy Young (or, at least, he should be the front-runner), is on the mound this afternoon (1:05PM ET start) against Edwin Jackson and the Tigers. A fine pitching match-up all around.

For the Royals, the game is mostly about helping to improve Greinke's resume. For the Tigers, it's about staying out in front of the Twins in the A.L. Central race. Going into the game, Detroit holds a 4.5 game lead.

We'll have updates here as the game progresses. Also feel free to join in/check out Royals Review's game thread, where they'll have instant -- and more frequent -- reaction to the game as well. Or, if you're more a Tigers kind of person, head to Bless You Boys' game thread.