KC Royals Starting Pitching Continues to Falter in 10-3 Loss

Danny Duffy lasted just an inning while giving up four runs on six hits, as the KC Royals fell to the Indians 10-3 Wednesday night.

Duffy was coming off a seven inning performance against Detroit, grabbing the win as he threw seven innings of one run ball, while striking out seven, putting his ERA back under four.

Duffy got some early help from his defense, after Jason Kipnis lead off with a double and was thrown out at home by Lorenzo Cain following a Carlos Santana single, who advanced to second on the throw.

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After Michael Brantley grounded Santana to third, Duffy hit Ryan Raburn before issuing a wild pitch to Brandon Moss, scoring Santana and advancing Raburn to third. Moss then grounded out to end the threat with Raburn on third.

After the Royals went in order in the bottom half of the 1st, the Indians put the next five hitters on base, beginning with a Nick Swisher single, a hit by pitch to Mike Aviles, and a double from Lonnie Chisenhall to drive in Swisher.

After a mound visit, Brett Hayes singled to right, driving in Aviles, followed by a Kipnis single to drive in Chisenhall. The Kipnis single put the Indians up 4-0 and signaled the end of Duffy’s night after just 1+ innings of work.

Brandon Finnegan followed Duffy with 2 2/3 innings, giving up one run in the top of the 4th on a Santana sacrifice fly.

The Royals got on the board in the bottom half of the 4th  on a Kendrys Morales two-run homer, driving in Lorenzo Cain, and bringing the Royals within three. Two innings later, Eric Hosmer drove in Lorenzo Cain on his seventh double of the season to bring the Royals within two, 5-3. For Hosmer, the double gave him extra-base hits in six of his last seven games.

However, Franklin Morales started the top half of the 7th with a walk and a singled, followed by back to back doubles from Raburn and Moss, adding three more runs and taking their biggest lead of the night at 8-3. Aviles followed with a single to right to make it 9-3 Indians.

The Indians added one more run in the 9th on a Moss homer for his third RBI on the night.

Notables:

• Lets just get the bad out of the way. Danny Duffy was not good. The Royals are going to have to start getting something out the rotation if they want to have any chance of taking this division. Duffy’s ERA sat at 3.45 before tonight, but following his horrendous performance, the ERA’s of all five starters look something like this: 2.10, 4.55, 4.94, 5.26, and 6.52. Get well soon, Mr. Medlen
• There was some good in this game. Kendrys Morales hit his fourth home run to tie Hosmer for the team lead. Morales also leads the team in doubles with eight, as Dayton Moore just laughs at us doubters from his suite. Hosmer’s double, as I said before, extended his extra-base hit streak to six of his last seven games, as we are finally seeing some of his power surface.

Next: Cleveland Indians vs. Kansas City Royals, Thursday, May 7, 1:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium; RHP Corey Kluber (0-4, 4.62 ERA) vs. RHP Edinson Volquez (2-3, 2.10 ERA)

Next: Kansas City Royals: An Apology