Sabathia rolls, Duffy duffs it up, Yankees win 5-1

There's something wrong with Duffy. Either it is an injury, or a mental thing, or a mechanical thing. I don't know. I'm not a Scientologist. But the one thing that is clear in the bright lights of Kauffman is that there is something wrong with Danny Duffy.

It was an outing we have come to expect over the last two weeks. Duffy struggled with command early on, but wedged his way through it. Then the third inning came along, and he went full Hochevar, walking the bases loaded. Unlike the Luke of yesteryear, however, he managed to wiggle out of it, yielding a lone run.

The fourth was decent, and the fifth was nearly gone through, but as I said in the game thread: c'est la baseball. Duffy yielded back-to-back two-out singles, and then gave up a three-run home run to Chase Headley on an 0-2 count. The Pine Unkind continues for Duffy, but walking four batters is a bad row to hoe for anyone.

On the flip side, CC Sabathia continued his decade-long series "Royally Screwed," going seven strong innings, yielding six hits and no walks while striking out five. His lone run given up came on a three-single inning from the Royals, scoring Omar Infante from third on a Mike Moustakas sacrifice fly.

Alex Rodriguez added a ninth inning home run, pushing closer to another record that no one within the Yankees organization wants to celebrate, but probably should be. At least a little.

It was a regulation game that ended in regulation disappointment.

The rubber game is tomorrow afternoon, as Edinson Volquez faces off against Chris Capuano at 1:10 CST. It will be interesting to see if Perez gets another day off, but the Royals have two off days next week, so. Probably not.