Clayton Kershaw Outduels Danny Duffy in Royals 2-0 Loss

With Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight, one had to expect that runs would be at a premium for the Royals. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Danny Duffy, Kershaw kept the Royals offense off the board as the Dodgers shut out the Royals 2-0.

The Dodgers struck quickly in the first. After battling Duffy in an eleven pitch at bat to start the game, Justin Turner tripled to deep right. After one out, Yasiel Puig had an infield single, putting runners at the corners. Adrian Gonzalez got Turner home on a ground ball back to the mound, as Duffy was able to get Puig at second for the force out.

While Duffy managed to hold the Dodgers off the scoreboard for the rest of his outing, the Royals still had to contend with the strike throwing buzzsaw known as Clayton Kershaw. The second coming of Sandy Koufax shut down the Royals offense without difficulty for most of the night, breezing through a lineup that had hammed Zack Greinke the night before.

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The Royals had their best scoring chance in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Omar Infante and Danny Valencia had consecutive singles to put runners on first and second. Justin Maxwell grounded to third, resulting in Valencia being forced out at second. Kershaw then escaped the jam on the very next pitch, getting Alcides Escobar to ground out to second to end the threat.

The Dodgers tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth against Kelvin Herrera. In his second inning of work, Herrera walked Gonzalez on four pitches to lead off the inning. After a strikeout, A. J. Ellis singled to put runners on first and second. Andre Ethier followed with a base hit to center, plating Gonzalez with the final run of the game. Kenley Jansen pitched a flawless ninth to preserve the 2-0 victory for the Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw picked up the victory, allowing only six hits and a walk while striking out eight over eight scoreless innings. Danny Duffy pitched well in defeat, allowing only the first inning run on four hits and four walks, striking out five in his six innings of work.

Eric Hosmer and Danny Valencia each had two hits for the Royals in the loss.