I before E -- except as in Zack Greinke of the Angels
ARLINGTON, Texas -- If this was Zack Greinke’s last start for the Angels, he gave them the shirt off his back.
In the fifth inning, that is, and only because they asked.
Of the two jerseys hanging in his locker on Sunday, Greinke picked the one that misspelled his last name. He took the mound wearing “Grienke” on his back, and the Angels finally noticed and gave him a replacement jersey halfway through the game.
“I didn’t care,” he said. “They wanted me to switch it.”
On the other hand, he gave up all four runs with “Grienke” on his back.
“We’d have won a lot easier if not for him,” Greinke said.
The Angels won the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Texas Rangers, 5-4. Greinke, who gave up four runs in 7 1/3 innings, said he did not care to discuss whether he had thought the possibility this might have been his Angels farewell.
He is eligible for free agency after the World Series.
The Angels traded three prospects to the Milwaukee Brewers for Greinke. In 13 starts in Anaheim, Greinke went 6-2 with a 3.53 earned-run average.
The jersey mixup was the not a first for Greinke. The Brewers asked him to pinch-hit last season, so Greinke rushed from the dugout into the clubhouse and grabbed a jersey.
“It had something besides Milwaukee on the front,” he said.
The jersey said “Bierbrauer,” the German translation of the team nickname. The Brewers would indeed wear those uniforms for a German heritage celebration, but Greinke was a day early.
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