Greinke heads the list of AL Cy Young Award candidates

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Greinke captures AL Cy Young

Kansas City Royals right-hander Zack Greinke has been named the American League Cy Young Award winner by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Greinke placed first on 25 of 28 ballots cast by two writers from each AL city and second on three others for a total of 134 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system, as he became the first AL pitcher to win the award while pitching for a last-place team since Roger Clemens won it with Toronto in 1997.

Seattle righty Felix Hernandez finished second with 80 points, placing first on two ballots, second on 23 and third on another. Detroit's Justin Verlander received the other first place vote and finished a distant third with 14 points.

Greinke ducks Cy Young talk, but the buzz keeps building

All this Cy Young talk is wearing on Zack Greinke. Even when it comes from the hometown fans, the Kansas City Royals' attention-shy ace doesn't want to hear it.

"It's pretty annoying, actually," he said. "I really don't like it all."

Sorry, Zack.

Kansas City Royals (65-95) at Minnesota Twins (84-76), 4:10 p.m.

If the Minnesota Twins really intend on making things interesting in the American League Central they are going to have to beat the front-runner for the AL's Cy Young Award this afternoon.

Kansas City ace Zack Greinke hopes to put a dent in Minnesota's playoff hopes, while stating his case for the final time to be honored as the league's top pitcher when the Royals play the middle test of three in what could be the final series ever at the Metrodome.

The Twins pulled to within a game of the Detroit Tigers in the division on Friday, as Delmon Young's first-inning grand slam sparked Minnesota's 10-7 win. Young ended with five RBI in the win, while Jason Kubel homered and drove in two for the Twins, who have won eight of 11 overall.

Seattle gives Hernandez a King's Ransom

The Seattle Mariners have signed right-hander Felix Hernandez to a five-year contract extension through the 2014 season.

Although financial terms were not disclosed, some reports have the contract at $78 million and could reach close to $100 million with incentives.

The deal eats up Hernandez's final two arbitration years, as well as the first three years of free agency for the 23-year-old hurler, who earned $3.8 million this past season.

Greinke deserves All-Star Game start

Start with this: Zack Greinke absolutely should start the All-Star Game on Tuesday in St. Louis. Year after year, the All-Star Game starters have been those pitchers who had the best first half. Period. This has not been a lifetime achievement award. This has not been at all about what the pitcher did in past years. This has not been about righting old wrongs or rewarding longtime favorites.

No, it has been all about the first three months of the season. And the first three months, Greinke has been the best pitcher in the American League. He has the league's best ERA (2.12), most complete games (5), most shutouts (2), most innings pitched (1271/3), fewest home runs allowed per nine innings pitched (0.3) and six times as many strikeouts as walks. His record is 10-5, and with the way this team scores runs that's quite remarkable -- 11 times in Greinke's 18 starts the Royals scored three runs.

Yes, there have been other terrific starters in the league -- Detroit's Edwin Jackson, Seattle's Felix Hernandez