Morales, Duffy carry Royals to 6-2 win
PHILADELPHIA -- Kendrys Morales had two home runs and four RBIs and Danny Duffy pitched 8 2/3 stellar innings while doing some damage at the plate as the Kansas City Royals topped the Phillies 6-2 on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Morales drilled a three-run homer, his 13th home run of the season, off the scoreboard in right field to cap a five-run outburst for Kansas City in the second inning.
Three batters before, Duffy had his first major-league hit and RBI when his bunt went over the head of Phillies starter Aaron Nola and into no man's land, where no play could be made by a Phillies infielder.
Second baseman Whit Merrifield also had an RBI single for Kansas City in the inning.
Morales added insurance in the eighth when he took Phillies reliever Adam Morgan deep to left for his 14th homer of the season and third in two games.
On the hill, Duffy was dominant, striking out eight and giving up seven hits in the longest outing of his six-year career. He improved his record this season to 4-1.
While Nola pitched better than he had in his five starts in June when he went 1-3 with a 10.42 ERA in just 19 innings, his struggles again came to light during the Royals' big second inning.
Nola (5-8) last five innings and allowed five runs while striking out seven and walking one. It was the first time in five starts the young right-hander made it out of the fourth inning.
The loss snapped Philadelphia's four-game win streak.
The Royals threatened in the first inning after Merrifield hit a liner off the wall in deep left and Morales walked, but Nola, who entered the game with an 8.44 ERA in the first inning this season, got out of the jam when he set down the next two batters.
The Phillies opened the scoring in their half of the first when Peter Bourjos tripled to center and Maikel Franco drove him in with a chopper that went off the glove of Duffy, who recovered on the play but made an errant throw.
The play was ruled a hit and RBI with no error charged to Duffy.
In the second, Duffy had his first major-league hit, a bunt that went over the head of Nola. That drove in Cheslor Cuthbert, who led off the inning with a sharp single into center, and tied the score 1-1.
Merrifeld followed two batters later with an RBI single to center to give Kansas City a 2-1 lead. Nola's familiar struggles continued when Morales, the next batter, extended Kansas City's lead to 5-1 by hitting a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right.
NOTES: Phillies RHP Aaron Nola had a miserable June. In 19 innings last month, the 22-year-old gave up 40 hits and 25 runs en route to a 1-3 record and a grisly 10.42 ERA. ... Phillies SS Freddy Galvis was not in the lineup because of what manager Pete Mackanin called "groin tightness." ... Andres Blanco, the only Phillies player to have a previous at-bat against Royals LHP Danny Duffy, started at shortstop and batted third. ... The Royals were only 15-26 on the road this season entering Saturday. They averaged a MLB-worst 3.2 runs per game away from Kauffman Stadium. ... Royals SS Alcides Escobar came into the game riding a 12-game hitting streak. ... Duffy had held lefties to a .163 batting average this season. He had not allowed a homer to a left-handed batter during a regular-season game since Aug. 27, 2011. ... Phillies RF Peter Bourjos is on fire at the plate, hitting .455 in his last 18 games before Saturday. He raised his average from .192 to .262 during that span.