Greinke out pitches Buehrle in rare Cactus League night game as Royals beat Sox 9-1

GLENDALE—Zack Greinke got the best of a matchup with Mark Buehrle and the Kansas City Royals earned a 9-1 win over theĀ  White Sox on Monday night.Greinke, unscored upon in his first two spring training outings, was effective again, allowing one run and two hits in four innings.The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner struck out three and retired the side in order in three innings, throwing 41 of his 61 pitches for strikes.Buehrle, the Sox opening day starter, gave up three runs and nine hits in four innings in his second start of the spring. The runs were the first Buehrle has allowed.Both pitchers worked quickly, though they did allow a few hard-hit balls. Buehrle allowed a run in the third inning and two in the fourth.Greinke allowed a double to Andruw Jones and a triple to Alejandro De Aza in the second inning, but was unscathed beyond that.De Aza, an outfielder with only 67 major league games of experience who is trying to win a spot on the final roster, continued his strong spring. De Aza didn’t play in 2008 because of a bad left ankle sprain and missed four months with a sprained right ankle in 2007. On Monday, he raised his hitting streak to six games and is batting .462 with seven RBIs.Yuniesky Betancourt was 3 for 3 with two doubles and three runs scored to lead the Royals, who had 17 hits. David DeJesus went 3 for 3 and Scott Podsednik went 2 for 3 with an RBI.

NOTES—Bobby Jenks was expected to pitch Monday night but instead threw a bullpen session earlier in the day. Jenks has struggled so far in spring training, having allowed seven earned runs and three walks in his first two appearances. Jenks has an ERA of 37.80. It’s not clear if the strained calf he dealt with late last season remains an issue. … The White Sox committed three errors in the game.