Giambi drives in four, Rockies rough up Greinke in 11-7 win over Royals

Rockies beat up Greinke in 11-7 win over KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jason Giambi homered and drove in four runs, and the Colorado Rockies roughed up AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke in an 11-7 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Giambi got the Rockies started against Kansas City’s ace with a three-run homer in the third inning and capped a five-run fourth with an RBI single. Ian Stewart drove in three runs, Troy Tulowitzki homered and the Rockies had 15 hits, chasing Greinke (1-5) after 3 1-3 innings in his shortest outing in nearly two years.

Esmil Rogers (1-2) pitched two innings in relief of starter Aaron Cook for his first career win and the Rockies matched a franchise record by getting five double plays to offset Kansas City’s 18 hits.

Greinke has been hurt by low run support in his disappointing start to he season.

Lately, the long balls haven’t done him any good, either.

Last start, it was Baltimore’s Luke Scott, who hit two solo shots off the right-hander in a no-decision that the Orioles went on to win in 10 innings.

Giambi took his turn against Greinke this time, launching a three-run shot to center that put the Rockies up 3-0 in the third inning.

Maybe that wasn’t much of a surprise: of Giambi’s five career hits against Greinke, four are homers.

The surprise was that everyone else was hitting Greinke, too. He wasn’t sharp for one of the rare times over the past two seasons and the Rockies pounced on seemingly every pitch, battering him for five runs in the fourth inning.

Stewart had a two-run double in the inning, and Clint Barmes, Dexter Fowler and Giambi each had run-scoring singles. The hits by Fowler and Giambi came after Royals shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt was charged with an error on an underhanded throw to second that rolled like a golf putt.

Greinke allowed eight runs — seven earned — on nine hits in his shortest outing since giving up seven runs in three innings against the White Sox on July 18, 2008.

Cook’s problems came in the fifth inning.

The Royals roughed up the right-hander for four runs in the inning, getting run-scoring singles from Billy Butler, Mitch Maier and Chris Getz to go with Alberto Callaspo’s sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 9-4.

Cook gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 1-3 innings to remain winless his last nine road starts, but Tulowitzki added a solo homer and Barmes a run-scoring double in the sixth to put the Rockies up 11-4.

Butler had four hits, while Maier and Callaspo had two RBIs each.

NOTES: A moment of silence was held before the game in memory of Jose Lima, who died Sunday of a heart attack. The colorful right-hander pitched for the Royals in 2003 and 2005. … Rockies CF Carlos Gonzalez was a last-minute scratch due to a lingering sore left wrist. He was replaced by Fowler. … Royals C Jason Kendall caught game No. 1,950, tying Tony Pena for fifth all-time. … Kansas City’s Willie Bloomquist hit his first homer in 170 at-bats off Randy Flores in the eighth inning.