Kansas City Royals Squander Danny Duffy’s Strong Start

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In a refrain that is becoming all too common this season, the Kansas City Royals waste a strong start from Danny Duffy in their 2-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park Saturday night.

Duffy lost his 10th game of the season, against 5 victories, despite an outstanding 2.66 ERA. Duffy’s record says nothing about his quality as a starter this season. Instead, it’s an indictment of the run support he’s received from his teammates.

The Royals offense is a joke.

The loss drops Kansas City to .500 on the season. The Royals have now squandered two straight opportunities to gain ground on Detroit, who has lost two straight games to open the 2nd half. The Royals remain 6.5 games behind the Tigers in the American League Central.

On the Mound

Danny Duffy pitched 6.2 strong inning, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks, 2 runs (only 1 earned) with 2 strikeouts. Really, what more is Duffy supposed to do? The Red Sox dinged Duffy for a run in the 4th inning when Alcides Escobar allowed Shane Victorino‘s ground ball go through his legs for an error rather than what should have been an inning-ending double play. Duffy’s only mistake came in the 6th inning when he allowed a 1-out homer to Mike Napoli (11).

Jason Frasor entered in the 7th inning to record the final out in a one batter appearance.

Wade Davis pitched a scoreless inning in the 8th.

At the Plate

The Royals could do little with Red Sox starter Rubby De La Rosa, who earned his 3rd win of the season. The Royals managed only 5 hits, 4 walks and 1 run against the young right-hander.

No Royal had more than 1 hit on the night.

Jarrod Dyson had the best game, going 1-3 with a triple, 1 run scored, and 1 walk. Dyson led off the 3rd inning with a triple and scored on Omar Infante‘s sacrifice fly to center. That finished the scoring for KC.

Disgusting.

Along with his sacrifice fly, Omar Infante hit a double. Infante went 1-3 on the night, with the team’s only RBI.

This and That

Jarrod Dyson made what turned out to be a critical error in the first inning after leading off the game with a walk. Omar Infante followed with a line drive to second, and Dyson got picked off first for a double play.

Eric Hosmer followed with a single, which extended his career-long hitting streak to 15 games.

The Royals have scored a grand total of 4 runs in Duffy’s last 5 losses.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

The only choice is Danny Duffy, who pitched well enough to win despite being betrayed both by the Royals offense and defense.

More from Kansas City Royals

The Red Sox

Mike Napoli struck the game changing blow in the 6th inning with his solo home run over the Green Monster. Napoli went 2-3 on the day, with a single, home run (11), 1 run scored and 1 RBI.

Up Next

The Royals finish their series with the Red Sox Sunday afternoon. Kansas City will send Yordano Ventura (7-7, 3.22 ERA) to the mound against Jon Lester for the Red Sox (9-7, 2.65). Game time is 12:35 PM CST at Fenway Park in Boston.

Box

Royals BattingABRHRBIBBSOPA ▾BAOBPSLGOPSPitStr
Jarrod Dyson CF3110104.294.351.353.704168
Omar Infante 2B3011004.282.321.395.715118
Eric Hosmer 1B4010014.272.318.386.704119
Salvador Perez C4000004.282.327.432.7591310
Alex Gordon LF3010114.271.351.425.776209
Billy Butler DH4010004.272.323.352.675127
Mike Moustakas 3B3000114.186.253.360.613159
Nori Aoki RF2000113.258.327.319.646125
Alcides Escobar SS3000003.277.314.378.691137
   Raul Ibanez PH1000001.149.236.254.48932
Danny Duffy P
Team Totals301514435.167.257.267.52412674

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: O Infante (12, off R De La Rosa).
3B: J Dyson (3, off R De La Rosa).
SF: O Infante (5, off R De La Rosa).
TB: J Dyson 3; O Infante 2; B Butler; A Gordon; E Hosmer.
GIDP: B Butler (14).
RBI: O Infante (47).
Team LOB: 7.
With RISP: 0 for 5.
Fielding
DP: 1. A Escobar-O Infante-E Hosmer.
E: A Escobar (9).

Red Sox BattingABRHRBIBBSOPABAOBPSLGOPSPitStr
Brock Holt SS4010004.325.369.457.8262012
Dustin Pedroia 2B4000004.277.344.376.720169
David Ortiz DH4000004.252.352.481.834128
Mike Napoli 1B3221104.274.395.445.840169
Jonny Gomes LF3010104.238.333.368.701147
Shane Victorino RF3010003.245.277.351.628107
Xander Bogaerts 3B3000013.234.310.353.66376
Jackie Bradley CF3010013.227.303.309.61385
Christian Vazquez C2000103.385.400.6151.015105
Team Totals292613232.207.281.310.59211368

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

HR: M Napoli (11, off D Duffy, 6th inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep LF).
TB: M Napoli 5; S Victorino; J Bradley; B Holt; J Gomes.
GIDP: B Holt (3).
RBI: M Napoli (35).
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 0 for 6.
Fielding
DP: 2. J Bradley-M Napoli; B Holt-D Pedroia-M Napoli.
E: J Gomes (3).
Outfield Assists: J Bradley (J Dyson at 2nd base).

Royals PitchingIPHRERBBSOHRERAPitStr
Danny Duffy, L (5-10) 6.26213212.669757
Jason Frasor 0.10000003.3032
Wade Davis 1 0000001.11139
Team Totals 8 6213211.1211368

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Red Sox PitchingIPHRERBBSOHRERAPitStr
Rubby De La Rosa, W (3-2) 7 5114202.6410461
Andrew Miller, H (11) 1 0000102.13116
Koji Uehara, S (20) 1 0000101.58117
Team Totals 9 5114401.0012674

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Balks: None.
WP: R De La Rosa (2).
HBP: None.
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.