, Jonathan Holder and Chasen Shreve all allowed long balls. Home runs by Aaron Hicks in the fourth and Chris Carter in the fifth staked New York to a 2-0 lead against Duffy (4-3). The 28-year-old left-hander wasn't as sharp as he was in Kansas City last Thursday, when he struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings to beat Montgomery, but Duffy got a key out in the fifth when Starlin Castro stranded the bases loaded with an inning-ending flyout. Duffy gave up two runs and six hits, struck out seven and walked two. Kansas City's opening-day starter, he had been 0-3 in his previous five outings before reviving against the Yankees. New York put two on against Joakim Soria in the eighth, and first baseman Eric Hosmer leaped to snag Chase Headley's two-out liner. Jacoby Ellsbury bounced into a game-ending double play - at first it wasn't clear the game was over, but umpires ruled Merrifield tagged Carter running from first to second before the second baseman threw to first. In the best of his eight big-league starts, Montgomery began 17 of 22 batters with strikes and walked none for the first time, although he did get four warning-track flyouts. He allowed five runs over five innings in last week's loss to Duffy. Warren relieved Montgomery with two outs in the seventh, and Salvador Perez singled to right, just over the outstretched glove of a leaping Castro. Bonifacio, who made his big league debut April 21, sent the next pitch into the right-field seats for his fourth home run in five games and sixth overall. Merrifield connected off Holder leading off the eighth, and Moustakas greeted Shreve later in the inning with his 11th homer, a two-run drive. HEADED BACKRoyals OF Alex Gordon was due back in New York late Tuesday following the birth of daughter Joey Lynn, and manager Ned Yost said Gordon will be available to play Wednesday. MOVIN' ON UPGleyber Torres started at third base for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and the 20-year-old went 1 for 3 with a single, walk and strikeout against Columbus in his Triple-A debut. ''I know sometimes it feels like you're a long ways away, but things can happen really quickly in this game,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. GOING DOWNKansas City sent RHP Al Alburquerque outright to Triple-A Omaha. STREAKINGYankees backup C Austin Romine was 0 for 3 and is hitless in 19 at-bats. TRAINER'S ROOMYankees: 1B Greg Bird, who hasn't played since May 1 because of a bone bruise in his right ankle, took grounders Tuesday for the first time since going on the DL. He expects to head to Tampa, Florida, on Sunday for extending spring training and then a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment. Bird, who missed 2016 following shoulder surgery, was just 6 for 60 with one homer and three RBIs before going on the DL. ''It's like a reset button,'' Girardi said. UP NEXTRHP Luis Severino (2-2) starts Wednesday for the Yankees and RHP Jason Hammel (1-5) for the Royals. Masahiro Tanaka (5-3), who has allowed 14 runs and seven homers over 4 2/3 innings in his last two starts, goes for New York in Thursday's series finale. Miguel Almonte is likely to make his first big league start for the Royals, who also could bring back Ian Kennedy on short rest.)
Time: 7:05 PM EDT Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY, 10451 NEW YORK -- Five days ago, Danny Duffy enjoyed tremendous success in shutting down the New York Yankees. A effective slider was a key element that day, and Duffy looks to replicate it Tuesday night when the Kansas City Royals continue a four-game series with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. According to fangraphs, Duffy (3-3, 2.97 ERA) is throwing his slider a career-high 29.3 percent this season, up from 23.5 percent in the previous two seasons. On Thursday in Kansas City, he pitched seven scoreless innings, allowed three hits and two walks and struck out 10 in the Royals' 5-1 victory. He entered the game with a strikeout rate of 17.7 percent but increased it to 19.1 percent by making liberal use of the slider." Not babying it, not trying to manipulate the movement," Duffy said of the difference in the slider's effectiveness Thursday. "Just let the grip and the release point play for itself." He used the pitch to get six strikeouts and three other outs. Overall, Duffy threw the pitch 40 times as opposed to 17 times in his previous start against the Baltimore Orioles." I think I was (using it more), but not as much as I would have liked," Duffy said. "I was getting to 0-2, 1-2 and throw a strike slider when I needed to bounce it." With the Thursday win, Duffy improved to 2-2 with a 5.46 ERA in eight career outings (six starts) against the Yankees." Danny was just on the attack all night," Royals manager Ned Yost said. Duffy turned in his fourth career double-digit strikeout game. He also threw a season-high 108 pitches while completing seven innings for the fifth time this year." When you see a slider, you can see the spin, but on his slider I didn't see it," Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro said. "He didn't make too many mistakes." Duffy's last outing also saw him thrive with runners in scoring position. He held the Yankees hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position after allowing a .333 average in those situations during his first eight starts. Duffy made a pair of scoreless relief appearance in New York when the teams met in mid-May of last season. On Sept. 6, 2014, in New York, he exited after throwing one pitch due to a shoulder injury and was not credited with making a start. Duffy will be hoping his teammates can be more productive than they were Monday. The Royals (18-26) opened the series with a 4-2 loss by going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, resulting in their fifth loss in seven games since getting within five games of .500 on May 14. The Yankees claimed the series opener by getting home runs from Brett Gardner, Didi Gregorius and Chris Carter. Michael Pineda pitched effectively into the seventh, and the Yankees are hoping for similar results Tuesday from Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery (2-3, 4.81 ERA) will oppose Duffy for the second straight start. He took the loss after allowing a career-high five earned runs and four hits in five innings Thursday. Unlike Duffy, Montgomery made a few mistakes with a slider, specifically on the pitch Mike Moustakas turned into a three-run home run." A slider that didn't slide," Montgomery said. "I didn't have the best command. Still, I knew they were going to be free swingers at the first pitch, and I left a couple of balls up." Despite the worst of his seven career starts, Montgomery is still doing well in other areas. Opponents are batting .216 (8-for-37) with runners in scoring position against him, and his ratio of allowing 0.92 home runs per nine innings is the lowest among New York starting pitchers.
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Kansas City Royals
New York Yankees
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (5/23/2017)
LegendNextDoor
