DETROIT
In the moments after the first inning was over, after Danny Duffy had thrown 35 pitches and the Detroit Tigers had scored two runs, the Royals’ most dependable starter barked into his glove and took a seat inside the first-base dugout at Comerica Park.
All year long, Duffy had avoided nights like this one, where his command escaped him and his pitch count elevated, where the wheels fell off by the middle innings. On Friday night, in the first game of the final road series of 2016, the old malady resurfaced.
In an 8-3 loss to the Tigers, an inefficient Duffy was raked for six runs in just 3 2/3 innings.