Duffy labors before ejection in loss to Cards

KANSAS CITY -- Danny Duffy's night was just about over when he was ejected in the sixth inning on Saturday night, but had the call that sparked his frustration gone the other way, his outing may have unfolded differently.
Duffy allowed six runs over his 5 1/3 innings in the Royals' 8-3 loss to the Cardinals in the I-70 Series at Kauffman Stadium. The left-hander's night ended after he gave up a two-run homer to Harrison Bader, then again when he was subsequently ejected by first-base umpire Adam Hamari for disputing a call that occurred earlier in Bader's at-bat.
With the count at 1-2, Duffy thought he got Bader swinging at strike three, but Hamari ruled Bader checked his swing on a pitch outside of the strike zone. When Bader went yard just three pitches later, Duffy verbally expressed his frustration at the call.
If you ask him, though, it wasn't directed at Hamari.

"I had my head down, I was upset with the previous call," Duffy said. "Gave the guy an extra strike. I saw that [Bader] went. Adam's a good guy, and in the heat of the moment, I yelled at the ground basically. He said, 'What did you just say?' and I kind of [waved him off] with my hand. He goes, 'Not another word.' I said, 'I didn't say another word,' and he said, 'That's it.' Bam."
Duffy felt it was obvious that Bader went around, but the Cardinals outfielder saw it differently.
"One hundred percent. [The umpire] made the right call," Bader said.
If Hamari had agreed with Duffy, it would've been a 4-2 ballgame heading into the bottom of the sixth. The Royals would have had the momentum, too, as Alcides Escobar had slashed the lead in half with a two-run homer just an inning earlier.

"He missed the call," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "And that was for strike three. And ends up giving up -- after we had just cut the lead in half -- giving up another two-run homer ... so obviously the frustrations were very high at that point."
Duffy didn't pin the loss on the call, though.
"It's not what lost us the game, certainly isn't," Duffy said. "I didn't pitch a good game tonight. … I didn't have my best stuff."
Bader's homer was the knockout blow, but the majority of the damage dealt to Duffy came in the third inning. With two strikes and two out, Yadier Molina doubled on the 10th pitch of his at-bat and moved to third on a wild pitch that Duffy attributes to a missed sign -- catcher Salvador Perez called for a curveball, and he threw the heater.
In the next at-bat, José Martínez sent a dribbler down the line that barely stayed fair and plated Molina to open the scoring. In all, the Cardinals racked up five straight hits and opened a 4-0 lead on Duffy, after he was one pitch away from escaping with a scoreless game.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Escobar, a Gold Glove shortstop, flashed the leather multiple times at the hot corner on Saturday.
He ranged over towards his natural shortstop position to make an impressive barehanded pick and throw to first baseman Ryan O'Hearn to get Adolis García in the fourth, while making a similarly impressive play the previous inning, charging in for a barehanded play to retire Bader and end the third after the Cardinals had rallied for four runs.

Escobar also ranged into foul territory to catch a popup from Matt Carpenter near the dugout.
SOUND SMART
This was the Royals' 11th straight game without committing an error, which ties a franchise record. The streak began on July 29 against the Yankees.
TITLE TRIBUTES
As part of the season-long celebration of the Royals' 50th season, 11 members of the 1985 World Series championship team were honored on the field before Saturday's game.

Royals Hall of Famers George Brett, Dennis Leonard and Willie Wilson were joined by Charlie Leibrandt, Danny Jackson, Darryl Motley, Jorge Orta, Greg Pryor, Jamie Quirk and John Wathan. Janie Quisenberry Stone, the widow of late Royals Hall of Famer Dan Quisenberry, was also in attendance.
The 2015 World Series championship team will be honored on Sunday. Luke Hochevar, Kris Medlen and Chris Young will join the current Royals players from that club.
UP NEXT
Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (6-11, 4.98 ERA) will start the I-70 Series finale at 1:15 p.m. CT on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Junis has been solid since returning from the disabled list shortly after the All-Star break, most recently allowing just one run in five innings against the Cubs on Monday. The Cardinals will counter with righty Luke Weaver (6-10, 4.66 ERA).