The Twins beat the Kansas City Royals on Friday, while the Tigers lost to the Chicago White Sox. As a result, the Twins trail the Tigers by only one game now.

After getting up 10-0 on the Royals, the Twins almost saw the entire lead disappear. In fact, the Royals cut the lead to 10-7 and even had the tying run at the plate in the eighth inning. However, the Twins were able to stop the rally and pull out the 10-7 victory.

The Tigers, on the other hand, had their home fans booing after an 8-0 defeat. Jake Peavy threw eight shutout innings for the White Sox to improve his record with the team to 3-0 and lower his ERA to 1.35.

The bad news for the Twins is that they have to face Zack Greinke on Saturday. Greinke, who is undoubtedly the hottest pitcher in all of baseball, could all but clinch the 2009 AL Cy Young Award with a good performance.

Can Joe Mauer and the Twins catch the Tigers (Image: Zuma Press)

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Twins Closing in on the Tigers

Against the Boston Red Sox on Monday, Greinke went six scoreless innings to pick up his 15th win of the year. He struck out five batters and lowered his ERA on the season to 2.08.

In his last five starts, Greinke has been awesome. During that stretch, he has pitched 35 innings and has only allowed one earned run and only 18 hits. In September alone, he has an ERA of 0.45.

Monday’s performance allowed the Royals to beat the Red Sox by a final count of 5-1. The win improved the Royals record to 63-88. The fact that the Royals are a bad team could hurt Greinke but if voters consider how little support he has had this year, it should make him the clear cut AL Cy Young Award favorite.

Zack Greinke - Kansas City Royals (Image: Zuma Press)

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Zack Greinke AL Cy Young Award Favorite?

Coming into the game with a 2.08 ERA, Greinke gave up ten hits, six earned runs and three walks in only five innings. The loss gave Greinke a 10-7 record on the season and his ERA jumped to 2.36.

The star at the plate for the Rays was All-Star MVP Carl Crawford. He finished with three hits in five at-bats to go along with three RBIs, one run and his 49th stolen base. DH Willy Aybar hit two solo homers — in the fifth inning and the seventh inning.

With the loss, the Royals fell to 41-64. After a good start to the season, the Royals now have the worst record in the American League. Only the Washington Nationals have a worse record.

Although the Rays improved to 58-48, they are still 5.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East and five games behind the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card race.

Zack Greinke - Kansas City Royals (Image: Zuma Press)

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Zack Greinke Hit Hard as Rays Cruise

1) Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals
While he has certainly cooled off from historically hot start, Greinke still has fantastic stats. He has an 8-2 record with an ERA of 1.72 and a WHIP of 0.99.

2) Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati Reds
Coming into this season, experts were split on what to expect from Cueto. The 23-year-old out of the Dominican Republic is besting most every expectation so far. He is 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP.

3) Jared Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
The Angels have been forced to deal with a lot of drama this season. Weaver has been one of their biggest bright spots. He is 7-2 with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.

4) Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks
So far this season, Haren has been extremely impressive. Although his record is pedestrian (5-4), his 2.20 ERA and 0.81 WHIP are both very strong.

5) Edwin Jackson, Detroit Tigers
Over the last few years, Jackson was one of the worst starters in the major leagues. This season, Jackson has been fantastic. He is 6-3 with a 2.24 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.

Edwin Jackson - Detroit Tigers (Image: Zuma Press)

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Best Starting Pitchers in Baseball – June

Zack Greinke - Can Anyone Stop the Royal? (Image: Newscom)

Greinke gave up six hits and one earned run while walking none and striking out eight batters. To show how good he’s been this season, Greinke’s performance actually raised his ERA to 0.84.

The only run Greinke gave up was in the first inning. The Tigers were able to keep that lead until the sixth inning. In the sixth, Jose Guillen keyed a three-run inning with a two-run single. Guillen later added a homer in the eighth inning to give Greinke a comfortable cushion.

With the win, the Royals are now 23-23 on the season. The Tigers dropped to 25-19 with the loss.

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Zack Greinke Masterful in Winning 8th Game

Pitching all nine innings, Greinke needed only 104 pitches to allow six hits, no walks and no earned runs while striking out ten batters. He has won all six of his starts and his ERA is a microscopic 0.40 and his WHIP is an equally as impressive 0.84.

In his first four starts of the season, Greinke didn’t allow an earned run. He allowed two earned runs against the Toronto Blue Jays in his fifth start, however he came back as strong as ever against the White Sox in his sixth start.

Thanks mostly to Greinke’s pitching, the Royals currently find themselves in first place of the AL Central. They lead the Detroit Tigers by 1.5 games, the Minnesota Twins by 2 games and the Chicago White Sox by 2.5 games.

Last season, the Royals were 75-87 on the year. The 2009 campaign appears to be a season where the Royals can finally make some noise, especially if Greinke keeps pitching the way he currently is performing.

Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals

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Zack Greinke Wins Again, Improves to 6-0

His streak of 43 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run ended in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays. With two outs in the first inning, Vernon Wells hit a single that scored Marco Scutaro from second base. In the third, Alex Rios hit into a double play but a second earned run was scored against Greinke.

Despite those two runs, the Royals were easily able to win the game by a final count of 11-3. Billy Butler hit two homers and finished the game 4-for-5 with four runs and four RBI.

With the win, the Royals are now 11-10 on the season. Even with the loss, the Blue Jays sport an impressive record of 15-8.

Kansas City Royals (Image: Flickr)

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Zack Greinke Wins but Streak Snapped