Kansas City, Mo. ? In a battle of bullpens, fate favored the guys with all the blown saves.

Cleveland’s Luis Vizcaino, Matt Herges and Rafael Betancourt kept Kansas City at bay Thursday after Royals ace Zack Greinke departed with a one-run lead. Victor Martinez had three RBIs, and the Indians pulled away for an 8-3 victory.

“We faced a pitcher who’s at the top of his game every time out, and we wore him out, I think,” said Cleveland starter Carl Pavano (4-4), who matched his more celebrated opponent nearly pitch for pitch. “It looked like he was kind of laboring, and we got him out of there and were able to get to the bullpen.”

Greinke’s record stayed at 7-1 with his first no-decision in nine starts. He went six innings, gave up a season-high eight hits and left with a 3-2 edge. His major-league-leading earned-run average crept up to 0.82 from 0.60.

“I just wasn’t real crisp. It was really stupid pitching for that whole inning probably,” Greinke said. “I started throwing two-seamers to get ground balls, and it’s not really how I pitch. I got behind on everyone because I was throwing the two-seamer. It was just stupid, really stupid.”

Greinke handed a 3-2 lead to Horacio Ramirez (0-2) starting the seventh, and the left-hander immediately got in trouble, giving up an RBI single to Shin-Soo Choo and a run-scoring double to Jhonny Peralta.

The Indians added four off Juan Cruz in the eighth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Luis Valbuena and a two-run double by Martinez. Cabrera had four hits and two RBIs for Cleveland.

In their last six innings, Royals relievers, who were expected to be a strength this year, have allowed 10 runs on 14 hits and three walks.

“You can have all the good arms you want, but if you don’t locate and command pitches, you’re not going to get quality major-league hitters out,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said.

Coming in, the Cleveland bullpen was a mess, with nine blown saves in 17 opportunities.

Betancourt came in with the bases loaded and none out in the ninth and got a popup and a double-play grounder for his first save in three chances.