KANSAS CITY – The Yankees looked to sweep the Royals in the series finale on Thursday night, but starter Danny Duffy had other intentions. Duffy struck out 10 Yankees over seven innings in the Royals’ 5-1 victory.
While Duffy was dominant, Yankees’ starter Jordan Montgomery was sub-par at best. The lefty gave up five earned runs in only five innings of action, the big hit being a Mike Moustakas three-run home run. The Yankees’ offense hasn’t had Montgomery’s back in his last two outings – they have only scored two runs combined in both starts. Although Montgomery hasn’t been extremely efficient, the southpaw has kept his team in games.
The only run the Yankees were able to scrape across on Thursday night came off the bat of Didi Gregorius as he drove in a run in the top of the ninth inning. The bright spot for the Yankees came from Chad Green out of the bullpen. Green topped out at 97-mph on his fastball and has been dominant in his last two outings – combining for nine strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work, ceding only two hits.
With the loss, the Yankees fell to 24-14 on the season but still remain a game and a half above the second place Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.
On Friday, Luis Severino will look to get his team back on track when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. Severino’s opposition is Erasmo Ramirez, who is sporting a 2.92 ERA this season.
Win- Danny Duffy
Loss- Jordan Montgomery
