KC Royals See Another Inconsistent Danny Duffy Start in Loss

In his past five starts, Danny Duffy had alternated between good and bad outings for the KC Royals. Considering he had a solid outing against the Angels his last time on the mound, the hope was that Duffy would be able to build off that performance as he faced the lowly Boston Red Sox. Instead, the Red Sox got to Duffy early while Wade Miley silenced the Royals offense in their 4-1 loss.

The Red Sox got going early against Duffy. Perhaps hindered by a strike zone that was a bit nebulous to say the least, Duffy loaded the bases with one out in the first. After getting Hanley Ramirez to strike out, Duffy walked Travis Shaw on a dubious ball call to force in a run. Fortunately, Duffy was able to escape any further damage as he got Ryan Hanigan to ground out to end the inning.

Boston jumped back on Duffy in the third. With two outs and a runner on first, Shaw doubled. Hanigan followed with a two run single, and scored on Jackie Bradley Jr’s triple as the Red Sox took a 4-1 lead through three innings.

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Even though Duffy settled in after that outburst, it was too little, too late. Miley was keeping the Royals offense in check, and Duffy had faltered just enough. In his five innings, Duffy allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks, certainly not the type of performance that he had hoped for this time out.

Kansas City finally got on the board in the top of the fifth, as Mike Moustakas homered just inside the foul pole to right, keeping the Royals from being shut out. The Royals had another chance to tighten the game in the top of the eighth, putting runners at the corners with two out, but Robbie Ross struck out Eric Hosmer to end the threat. Junichi Tazawa pitched the ninth to send the Royals to the 4-1 loss.

On the plus side, Kris Medlen continued his recent run of success, pitching three shutout innings. Could this have been his last relief outing? We may find out come Monday.

Next: Royals Have Gotten More than Expected from Ben Zobrist