The Yankees and Royals are both trying to stay in the playoff race. It is up to Brandon McCarthy (5-4, 2.80 ERA) to keep the Bombers above water and Danny Duffy (8-11, 2.42 ERA) to keep the Royals ahead of the Tigers. McCarthy’s last start was going exactly as planned through five scoreless innings in Toronto, before he allowed three home runs and took a loss. He has allowed nine earned runs in his last two starts after allowing 11 in his first eight combined with New York.
Duffy’s last start against the Indians was a solid one, but had nothing to show for it. He allowed two runs (one earned) in 6 2/3 innings. The game was suspended in the bottom of the 10th, with the Royals trailing 4-2. Duffy had Tommy John in 2012 and started the season as a reliever, but stepped into the rotation after Bruce Chen was injured. “For him to develop as quickly as he did after getting sent down in Spring Training, to be a starter in Triple-A and then realizing we need the best arms we can have up here and put him in the bullpen,” Ned Yost said. “It wasn’t long until Bruce Chen got hurt and we put him in the rotation and he just took off. He all of a sudden went from a five-inning guy throwing 110 pitches to seven and pushing it to the eighth inning.”
Martin Prado sat out Friday due to a strained left hamstring, his third straight game on the bench. He was able to complete a pregame workout running and batting practice without experiencing any pain in the leg. He could be in the lineup for this game. “What we’ve seen from Martin is he’s not a guy that really knows how to back off,” Joe Girardi said. “So we gotta make sure that we feel pretty good that once he goes out, he stays out there. It’s tough not having him in the lineup.”
Notes on the game
The Royals are 3-2 against the Yankees this season.Â
Carlos Beltran is 10 hits away from 1,000 in the AL.
4:05 pm on Fox Sports 1.
