Rays at Royals
The Kansas City Royals answered a disastrous 2-8 stretch by bolting out of the blocks to get the early jump on the Tampa Bay Rays en route to winning both games of a doubleheader. The Royals look to ride the momentum of their first doubleheader sweep since July 2015 into the finale of their four-game series versus the visiting Rays on Thursday afternoon.
Adalberto Mondesi belted a two-run homer in the first inning of a 3-2 win in the opener of Wednesday's doubleheader before adding an RBI double to highlight his two-hit performance in an 8-2 romp in the nightcap. Rookie Kelvin Gutierrez had an RBI groundout in the first inning of the opener before belting his first homer off the foul pole in right field in the second contest. While Kansas City welcomed a rare sweep in the series, Tampa Bay was stopped in its tracks after winning 11 of 12 previous encounters against the Royals while improving to 5-1 in its last six games overall with an 8-5 victory in the series opener. Tommy Pham drove in a pair of runs in that contest and had a hit in each game of the doubleheader heading into Thursday's matinee against left-hander Danny Duffy, against whom he has struck out in all three career at-bats.
TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), FS Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Charlie Morton (3-0, 2.76 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (0-1, 5.40)
Morton recorded his second scoreless start of the season on Saturday after scattering two hits over six innings in a 2-1 win at Boston. The 35-year-old allowed a season-high four walks to drive up his pitch count before five relievers combined to strike out six batters over the final three frames to secure the win. Martin Maldonado is a scorching 6-for-11 versus Morton, who owns a 1-2 mark with a 5.60 ERA in three career starts against Kansas City.
Duffy had an uneven performance in his first start after spending nearly two months on the injured list with left shoulder impingement. The 30-year-old required 48 pitches to work through the first two innings before finishing five frames in Friday's 5-1 setback versus the Los Angeles Angels. Avisail Garcia is 12-for-36 against Duffy, who owns a 2-1 mark with a 2.90 ERA in five career starts against Tampa Bay and has struck out Kevin Kiermaier five times in seven at-bats.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay 3B Yandy Diaz had driven in nine runs in his last six games before going 0-for-8 in Wednesday's doubleheader.
2. Kansas City OF Alex Gordon has answered a seven-game hitting streak by going 0-for-5 in this series.
3. Rays 2B Daniel Robertson has homered in two of his last three games.