Zack Greinke turned in one of his better outings of the season and the Kansas City Royals rode a three-run third inning to a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

Greinke, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, allowed two runs - one earned - on seven hits in eight innings of work to win his second straight, his first winning streak of the season. The 26-year-old right-hander has been plagued by subpar run support all season long, but was good enough to make the early lead stand up.

Jason Kendall, Billy Butler and Jose Guillen each brought in a run with hits in the third for the 3-0 edge. Mitch Maier added a fielder’s choice groundout in the eighth for the four-run lead.

Jeff Suppan (0-3) remained winless as he allowed the three runs on seven hits in five frames.

The Cardinals tried to fight back in it with a pair of runs in the ninth - on a sacrifice fly from Felipe Lopez and a single by David Freese - but could not come all the way back.

Joakim Soria allowed a hit in the ninth but earned his 18th save.

With his single in the third, Guillen extended his hitting streak to 18 games.