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 Designated hitter Kendrys Morales homered, and left-hander Danny
Duffy pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball as the Royals beat the
Orioles 3-2 Tuesday.
The Royals (77-48) won their fourth straight and 14th of in 18 to
move 29 games above .500 for the first time since the end of the
1980 season. Kansas City earned its eighth consecutive win over
slumping Baltimore, which fell to 62-63 with its season-high sixth
loss in a row overall.
The Orioles are below .500 for the first time since July 26.
Duffy (7-6) struggled with his control, dealing with several deep
counts before running into trouble in sixth.
"I don't think my off-speed was off," he said. "It could have been
better, but it was better than the start before. I've just got to
keep working on that, but today was definitely a step forward. ... I
just would have liked to have located a couple of pitches in there
better."
Royals manager Ned Yost said of Duffy, "The first 3 2/3 innings he
was fantastic, then he ended up walking a hitter and kind of lost
his concentration and then gave up a couple of hits. And then he
came back in, and I knew he would, he got re-zoned and re-focused
and stayed within his mechanics really well, executed his pitches
really well, had great life on his fastball, really good changeup,
threw some really good sliders."
Duffy said of the Orioles, "They're a good team. I was fortunate to
have a really good fastball today. I worked things off my fastball,
and a lot of good things happened. I thought my effort was good. I
had a lot in the tank today."
Trailing 3-2, the Orioles put two runners on in the sixth. Royals
right-hander Luke Hochevar relieved Duffy and escaped the jam when
catcher Caleb Joseph's deep fly was run down on the right field
track by Alex Rios.
"Hoch did a great job, coming in back-to-back nights again," Yost
said. "We were kind of guarded with him to the All-Star break, but
since then, he's done a great job of being durable and being able to
be productive on back-to-back nights like he was tonight."
Hochevar added, "I feel like since the All-Star break I've been able
to bounce back better and not carry my soreness as long."
The Orioles threatened again in the seventh when right fielder
Gerardo Parra doubled with two outs, driving Hochevar from the
mound. Right-hander Kelvin Herrera met the challenge by striking out
center fielder Adam Jones on three pitches before delivering a
scoreless eighth.
"Three good sinkers," Yost said. "And you know with Kelvin's arm
that's what he's capable of doing against a really, really good
hitter, a really dangerous hitter in Adam Jones, making pitches."
Right-hander Wade Davis collected his 12th save in 13 chances,
striking out two in a perfect ninth.
"They did an awesome job," Yost said of his bullpen. "Hoch coming in
and getting the big out that we needed in the sixth. Herrera coming
in and a three-pitch strikeout to Adam Jones and getting us through
the eighth, and Wade getting us through the ninth. That's what they
do so well, and they did it again tonight."
Baltimore failed to score more than three runs in each of the six
games during its losing streak.
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Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (9-10) struggled through 4 1/3
innings, allowing solid hits in each inning. He gave up three runs
on six hits and three walks with one strikeout while throwing 92
pitches. Gonzalez has not won since July 25.
"We understand that this team has been playing really well and
there's a reason they're in first place," Gonzalez said. "I've just
been a little off. I need to keep working on that with (pitching
coach) Dave (Wallace) and (bullpen coach) Dom (Chiti). They've been
doing a really great job keeping me to stay focused and not worry
about things and not think too much out there. I think that's been
the struggle and obviously it hasn't been the way we want, but we've
just got to keep working hard."
Manager Buck Showalter said, "He's gone through periods before where
he's gotten out of sync, but his command is the thing. He's not a
guy that's going to overpower you, but when he's got command, he can
make it look easy, as you've seen and as we've seen. His fastball
command wasn't there. Four or five of them he was trying to go
inside and threw it right down the middle. Good hitters are going to
make you pay for those. Command of the fastball is where it starts
for every pitcher."
Morales' second-inning homer opened the scoring. The Royals extended
their lead to 3-0 in the third on an RBI groundout by first baseman
Eric Hosmer and a run-scoring single by third baseman Mike
Moustakas.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop and catcher Caleb Joseph had RBI
singles for the Orioles in the fourth.
NOTES: Royals RF Alex Rios extended his hitting streak to seven
games, his best run of the season. ... Orioles C Steve Clevenger's
wife gave birth to a daughter Tuesday afternoon. Clevenger went on
paternity leave Tuesday and is expected to rejoin the team this
weekend in Texas. ... Baltimore recalled SS Paul Janish from
Triple-A Norfolk and immediately inserted him into the lineup,
batting ninth. Janish was hitting .235 with 21 RBIs in 95 games with
Norfolk and led International League shortstops with a .990 fielding
percentage (four errors in 407 total chances). ... Royals 2B Omar
Infante had three triples in his past two games before Tuesday. His
two-triple game Monday made him the 29th in club history to record
two three-baggers in the same contest.
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