, Edwin Encarnacion (2014), and Jesse Barfield (1983).Gurriel Jr. has 14 homers in 125 at-bats since being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on May 24. He's batting .352 (44 for 125) in that span.Sogard broke a 2-2 tie with a two-out homer to right off Duffy (3-4). The homer was Sogard's ninth, extending his career-high. Sogard began the season with 11 homers in eight seasons, and had never hit more than three in a season before this year.Grichuk capped the scoring with a two-out homer off Tim Hill in the eighth, his team-leading 15th.Right-hander Daniel Hudson (4-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win.Duffy allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He's winless in seven starts since beating the Los Angeles Angels on May 19.Six of the 10 homers hit off Duffy this season have come in his last three starts.The Royals have lost five of seven.Sean Reid-Foley made his first start for the Blue Jays since April 1. The right-hander allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.Kansas City's Martin Maldonado opened the scoring with a two-out homer off Reid-Foley in the fifth, his fourth. Maldonado went 3 for 4 with three extra-base hits.David Phelps replaced Reid-Foley in the sixth after Nicky Lopez doubled and Alex Gordon followed with an RBI single.Toronto tied it in the bottom half on Gurriel's first homer.Kansas City loaded the bases against Joe Biagini in the seventh, but Hudson came on and got the Blue Jays out of the jam. First baseman Justin Smoak made a backhanded stop on Nicky Lopez's grounder, then won the race to the bag to end the inning.Gordon hit a leadoff double against Hudson in the eighth, but Hudson struck out the next three batters.TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: INF Adalberto Mondesi (strained right groin) is expected to begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Saturday. Mondesi has been out since June 18.Blue Jays: Smoak was activated off the injured list after missing 11 games because of a strained left quadriceps. OF Billy McKinney was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Homer Bailey (7-6, 4.61) makes his first career start against the Blue Jays. Toronto is the only major league team Bailey has yet to face.Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (5-9, 3.04) pitched six shutout innings to beat Boston in his previous start, June 23 at Fenway Park.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Duffy to start for Kansas City in lid-lifter at TorontoFLMIn 2015, the Kansas City Royals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in a six-game American League Championship Series and went on to win the World Series.When the Royals visit the Blue Jays on Friday night for the opener of a four-game series, both teams are hoping to avoid triple-digit losses this season.The teams had Thursday off, having reached the halfway point in their respective schedules Wednesday, and both are on pace to lose 100 or more games.Toronto is 29-52 after losing three straight to the New York Yankees to complete a 2-4 road trip. The Royals are 28-53 after losing two of three of a road series against the Cleveland Indians.The Royals will start left-hander Danny Duffy (3-3, 4.48 ERA) Friday, and the Blue Jays have not named a starter.The Blue Jays won two of three from the Boston Red Sox before dropping three close games in New York, including an 8-7 loss Wednesday."I could say it's disheartening, but it's not," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. "It was a solid road trip. We played good baseball. ... We were in every game against two of the best teams in baseball."It's tough. It's a grind. But I'm glad we're playing good baseball. Good games against good teams." Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit two home runs Wednesday, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He is 42-for-121 (.347) with 12 home runs and 24 RBIs in 31 games since being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo May 24 and was converted from a middle infielder to left fielder.The Royals have split their past 10 games. Their win in Cleveland came Tuesday when the first career grand slam by third baseman Hunter Dozier keyed a five-run ninth inning.Dozier, who is batting .297/.380/.574 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs, was a finalist for starting third baseman on the American League All-Star team, though Houston's Alex Bregman won the honor."It's just been enjoyable to watch his development," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Dozier. "You look at his at-bat (Tuesday) night -- he didn't elevate the importance of it. He just treated it like any other at-bat and went up there and put a good swing on it." Yost also appreciates Dozier's improvement defensively."There was a time last year when we really had no idea where we would play him," Yost said. "We thought about right field or maybe first base. His defense just wasn't good enough to consider him an everyday third baseman. But all of that has changed. His defensive improvement has been phenomenal."He's a guy now who has the third-base job. He can still play some other positions, but he has grown into third base. There isn't a play he can't make now, and he's making them. And he has gotten better through hard work." Duffy pitched a season-high eight innings without factoring into the decision Saturday afternoon at home, as the Royals fell 5-3 to the Minnesota Twins in 10 innings. He walked two and struck out four while permitting three runs on six hits, including three solo home runs. Duffy is 2-3 with a 4.86 ERA in seven career appearances against the Blue Jays.The teams play a three-game series in Kansas City July 29-31.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Kansas City Royals
Toronto Blue Jays
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (6/28/2019)
TKWins
