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Kendrys Morales went yard twice as Danny Duffy pitched into the ninth to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 Saturday night.
Danny Duffy rolled through the Phillies lineup. He had everything working, including a developing changeup that has become a decent offering for him in recent outings. But working both sides of the plate with fastball precision kept hitters off-balance as Duffy put together the most gnar performance of the Royals starting corps this season. His final line was 8.2 innings, seven hits, one walk, two runs allowed, and seven strikeouts.
On the offensive side, Duffy decided to get in on the action. In the second inning, he reached on a bunt single, driving in Cheslor Cuthbert. He later came around to score on Kendrys Morales' thirteenth home run of the year, which put the Royals out front and capped off a five-run inning. It is as they have said: home runs kill rallies.
But Darkness wasn't done, as he decided that two was worth twice the price and went a-donging in the eighth. Morales has been on a tear as of late, pushing his season line to .267/.329/.470, a .799 OPS and a 112 wRC+. As recently as June 5th, his slash line was .191/.257/.320.
Joakim Soria came on to close out the game, and he did so with gusto.
Tomorrow, Kansas City looks to take the series. Yordano Ventura (6-5, 5.00 ERA) will tilt for the Royals as the Phillies counter with Vince Velasquez (6-2, 3.38).