Morales, Duffy Lead Royals Over Phillies 6-2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kendrys Morales had two home runs and four RBIs, Danny Duffy pitched 8 2/3 strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Saturday.
Morales extended his hitting streak to eight consecutive games with a second-inning homer, and he is batting .565 with seven homers and 21 RBIs in his last 13 games.
Duffy (4-1) allowed two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and no walks while setting a career high for innings. The left-hander's previous best was eight innings, which he tied in Monday's win over St. Louis.
The 27-year-old Duffy recorded the first two outs of the ninth but was lifted for Joakim Soria after Cesar Hernandez's RBI single.
Whit Merrifield and Cheslor Cuthbert added a pair of hits for the defending World Series champion Royals, who finally gained some ground on Cleveland in the AL Central after the Indians had their 14-game winning streak snapped in Toronto. Kansas City trails the Indians by six games.
Hernandez and Maikel Franco had two hits and an RBI each for Philadelphia, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Aaron Nola (5-8) lost his fourth straight game after giving up five runs on six hits in five innings. Nola hadn't gotten past 3 2/3 innings his three previous losses, and the 23-year-old right-hander has a 13.50 ERA during his skid.
The Royals scored all five of their runs off Nola in the second inning.
Morales did the greatest damage, putting the Royals up 5-1 with a three-run home run to right field. Normally Kansas City's designated hitter, Morales has played right field the last two games because manager Ned Yost wanted to keep his hot bat in the lineup.
The Royals tied the game at 1 on Duffy's first major league hit and RBI, a bunt single that was popped up into a perfect spot between the pitcher's mound and shortstop. Duffy had been 0 for 10 with five strikeouts this season.
Merrifield's RBI single to right with two outs put Kansas City ahead 2-1 before Morales' drive.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first on Franco's single that bounded off Duffy's outstretched glove to score Peter Bourjos, who reached with a triple to extend his hitting streak to 11 straight games.
Philadelphia looked poised to score again in the fourth, but Alcides Escobar's stellar defense saved a run. Escobar sprinted deep in the hole at shortstop to field Hernandez's ground ball and threw to second for a force play on Carlos Ruiz for the final out.
Kansas City capped its scoring in the eighth when Morales led off with his 14th homer of the season.
Escobar singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
Philadelphia's Tommy Joseph went 0 for 3 with a strikeout, extending his slump to 0 for 17 with seven strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Royals RHP Yordano Ventura (6-5, 5.00) opposes Philadelphia RHP Vince Velasquez (6-2, 3.38) on Sunday afternoon in the conclusion of the three-game series.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
