06-28-2019, 12:34 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Danny Duffy walked briskly to the mound to start the seventh inning Saturday night, ready to throw his first warm-up pitch before anybody else on his team had even taken the field. The Royals left-hander was in that kind of rhythm. Duffy went on to retire the next two batters he faced before Baltimores Adam Jones finally ended his bid for a perfect game with a single up the middle. Still, it was the best outing of his career, and came on a night when the Kansas Citys scuffling offence needed it. Billy Butler drove in the only run in the first inning in the 1-0 win over the Orioles. "I started to feel it in the seventh a little bit," Duffy said of his tantalizing perfect bid, "but I didnt think about it because my job is to get outs." Others started to think about it, though. "You keep thinking, Boy, hes got really good stuff," said Royals manager Ned Yost, who was ejected during a tense ninth inning. "He gets through the fourth and the fifth and into the sixth and you think, Boy, hes got really, really good stuff." Duffy gave up a single to Nelson Cruz to start the eighth, but Wade Davis retired the next three batters. All-Star close Greg Holland allow a hit and two walks to load the bases with two outs in the ninth, then calmly struck out Cruz for his 11th save of the season. "We found a way to get back in it in the ninth and had the right guys at the plate," said Orioles bench coach John Russell, who was acting manager as Buck Showalter attended his daughters graduation. "We scraped and scrapped. We still found a way to make it interesting." Bud Norris (2-4) was the hard-luck loser, allowing four hits and a walk in 7 1-3 innings. The lone run he allowed came in the first, when Nori Aoki led off with a single, stole second and then scored on Butlers single to centre. The hit ended a 0-for-10 slump, and gave Kansas City only its second run in the first three games of the four-game set. "The story of the day is about Duffy. That was unbelievable," Butler said. "That gives you a glimpse of what he could be like every time out." Duffy missed most of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he began this season in the bullpen after losing the competition for a rotation spot in spring training. But he was forced back into the rotation a few weeks ago, when Bruce Chen landed on the disabled list with a back injury, and has pitched so well that he may have claimed the spot for good. After struggling with control most of his first three seasons, Duffy has finally started to harness his stuff. He allowed one run on two hits in four innings in his first start May 3 against Detroit, and one run on two hits in six innings last week in Seattle. He wound up losing both games when the Royals failed to score a run for him. Perhaps with that in mind, Duffy kept the Orioles off the scoreboard entirely. He never got close to allowing a hit until Caleb Joseph hit a liner at third baseman Mike Moustakas to end the sixth inning, and Alex Gordon made a spectacular diving catch on Nick Markakiss flyball to lead off the seventh. Duffy then struck out Manny Machado before Jones delivered his single. "I heard somebody say this is the type for, like, a perfect game," said the Orioles Caleb Joseph. "Right after that, somebody said, Jonesy is about to rip one right here." The crowd gave Duffy a standing ovation after the hit, and then another when he exited the game. Duffy sheepishly waved his cap in appreciation as he entered the dugout. "I was just trying to stay calm," Duuffy said. "Mechanics will come through on their own if you trust your stuff, you dont overdo anything. And we were on the attack all day." NOTES: Jones has a 12-game hitting streak. ... The Royals have had four no-hitters in their history, the last by Brett Saberhagen against the White Sox on Aug. 26, 1991. The Orioles have not been no-hit since Sept. 1, 2007, when Clay Buchholz accomplished the feat for Boston. ... Royals RHP James Shields and Orioles RHP Ubaldo Jimenez start Sundays series finale. Wholesale Chargers Jerseys .S. womens soccer team to a 2-0 win over China in Colorado in the afternoon. Drue Tranquill Jersey . -- Dane Fox scored his 61st and 62nd goals of the season and Brendan Gaunce had a goal and three assists as the Erie Otters downed the Kitchener Rangers 7-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.cheapchargersjerseysauthentic...-jersey.ca. Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers. Easton Stick Jersey .That sight softened the blow of what ended up as a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Knowing their teammate was fine after a scary headfirst fall in the opening minute of the game helped calm the Maple Leafs. Wholesale Chargers Jerseys China . Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. Gasquet next plays third-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who won had 18 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 win against seventh-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Growing up in the Toronto neighbourhood of Mimico, Brendan and Reilly Smith never played organized hockey together. Just everything else. "We were always playing mini sticks or road hockey or shinny on the ice out on the rink, stuff like that," Brendan Smith said. "We were always playing with or against each other." Inevitably, one-on-one games in the basement would get heated. If it was last goal wins, Reilly said Brendan would often make sure they kept playing until he scored it. It wont be that easy this time as Brendans Detroit Red Wings meet Reillys Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Theyve met in the regular season, but this was a matchup the brothers and their parents were hoping to avoid. "We dont like when theyre against each other," mother Deidre said on HBOs "24/7" program. "We like it when theyre against other people." When the Red Wings were making their wild-card run last month, Reilly told Brendan to keep racking up the points to get the first spot and a matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins instead of his Bruins. "He told me he doesnt want to see that," Brendan recalled. "He doesnt want to see that in the first round because he thinks we play really well against them. I think we match up decently well against Boston. I think we match up better against them than Pittsburgh." Reilly didnt get his wish, as the Bruins and Red Wings are meeting in the playoffs for the first time since 1957. Game 1 is Friday night in Boston. That was 30 years before Lester and Deidre Smith started having kids, and now they have to witness their sons playing against each other. "Theyll probably be wearing a jersey sewed down the middle with Boston and Detroit," Reilly told reporters in Wilmington, Mass., as quoted by the Boston Globe. "Maybe my mom wont wear it, its definitely a fashion statement. But I dont think my dad will worry too much." The Red Wings won three of four meetings with the Bruins this season, including April 2 in Detroit to snap Bostons streak of 16 games without a regulation loss. Reilly had an assist in each of those games, while Brendan went without a point the three times he played against Boston. "When Boston plays Detroit, we root for both of them to play well," father Lester said on "24/7" in December. "But its fun." Its much more fun for the brothers to watch and help each other now that theyve reached the NHL. Brendan said he and Reilly talk every day during the season, sometimes for confidence-boosting purposes. "I talk to him about things, things that are going wrong with him, if hes on a cold streak. We can both help each other," Brendan said. "Were always talking. I think its good for me and I think its good for both of us is that we understand. Were both in the same profession and we know what its like on a day-in, day-out basis, so we can help each other and maybe if things areent going well crack a smile on each other.dddddddddddd Its a good relationship." Brendan, at 25 the middle of three brothers with professional lacrosse player Rory the oldest, is Reillys biggest supporter. He didnt quite agree that Reilly turned out to be the best return from Bruins trade that sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars -- because Loui Eriksson is really good -- but he expected the 23-year-old forward to thrive. "I think hes been the most shock-and-awe factor in that trade that nobody saw that (was going) to happen," Brendan said. "We did as a family, and a lot of people that have seen Reilly in previous years in college and St. Mikes, they knew who Reilly was." All Reilly needed, according to his brother, was an opportunity to play with better linemates. Getting that chance, eventually on a line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, Reilly broke out with 20 goals and 31 assists for a career-high 51 points. "He never really got that great of a chance with Dallas on the fourth line (where) its hard to produce when youre a skill player," Brendan said. "Once he got into a system where hes starting to play with high-production players, obviously he jumped off the page." Reillys stats at the start to his Bruins tenure certainly jumped off the page. After just three goals and six assists in 37 games with the Stars last season, he had 30 points in his first 38 games for Boston. "Its kind of interesting to watch it and for me to follow it. Reilly came out flying, he was really hot and then it became Marchand and now its Bergeron," Brendan said. "Its like theyre all taking their turn to get that limelight. ... Its a good line and its impressive to see that Reillys done so well." Even though Reilly went cold late in the season, he still finished sixth on the Presidents Trophy-winning Bruins in scoring. He credited captain Zdeno Chara and others for the fact he was able to integrate so well into an established group. "I think it comes down to the leadership on this team," Reilly said. "From management down, it seems like, for me at least being a new player joining this system, the structure was there. They just kind of throw you into it. It doesnt really matter who it is, someones always trying to help you out and make your game easier and help you be more successful. " That a couple of hockey players from Mimico found success isnt surprising, considering Brendan Shanahan, David Clarkson, Dave Bolland and others came out of there. Two from the same family, Brendan said, is a testament to their parents. "The drive and all theyve done for us and how theyve brought us up from young guys, I think thats the main reason why weve been successful," he said. "We always wanted to be professional and play in the NHL and we were fortunate to do that. And I think thats something our parents instilled in us was that drive." Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale NHL Jerseys Wholesale MLB Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Wholesale NCAA Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '