Zack Greinke, the midseason favorite for the American League's Cy Young Award, limited the Pirates to two runs over 6 1/3 innings and lifted Kansas City to a 3-2 victory this afternoon before 25,888 at PNC Park.

The Pirates' four-game winning streak ended, as the Royals avoided a three-game sweep.

Greinke is 10-3 with a 1.95 ERA.

"He was really good," Pirates manager John Russell said. "Once he got somebody on base, he stepped up."

"He made a lot of good pitches and used his fastball really well," second baseman Freddy Sanchez said. "He's one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he showed why."

The Pirates' Charlie Morton did not fare as well in his home debut, allowing three runs and seven hits in five innings. That included David DeJesus' home run to lead off the fourth, to center field off what appeared to be a decent 93-mph fastball with a 2-2 count.

"I didn't have my best stuff, but you've got to find a way to work with that," Morton said, referring specifically to a fastball that stayed around 93 mph, about 2 mph slower than in Denver last week. "Overall, it was just good to start getting into a rhythm out there."

In the fifth, Kansas City opened with back-to-back doubles by Alberto Callaspo and Mark Teahen for one run. Teahen eventually scored on a fielder's choice, and the Royals had a 3-0 lead.

Andy LaRoche's one-out RBI triple in the seventh brought the Pirates' first run and, in a way, knocked out Greinke because a rain delay of 59 minutes.

After the delay, Jason Jaramillo's RBI groundout off Jamey Wright made it 3-2.

Did the delay help?

"Yes and no," Russell said. "It slowed our momentum."

"I felt like I was leading off a whole new game," Jaramillo said. "It was a totally different feeling."

Jamey Wright, John Bale and Joakim Soria closed it out for Kansas City with 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief.

The Pirates finished interleague play 8-7, their first winning record since 2001.