Royals lefty starter Danny Duffy went 1 2/3 innings, gave up three hits and two runs, with one walk and one strikeout. On his 38th pitch, three over his scheduled number, he gave up a home run and was pulled by Ned Yost. The Royals came back to beat the Brewers 6-3.
“I felt great,” Duffy said. “I just wanted to get my pitch count up today. I wanted to build up. My side sessions have been really good so far. Normally they aren’t this time of year. But I just want to continue to progress. I thought I threw pretty well today.”
Duffy will have one more tune-up outing before he leaves March 9 to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.
Mike Leake needed just 32 pitches to get through the entire Atlanta Braves batting order just once. Leake made it three innings unblemished with three strikeouts. That’s his goal coming into camp is to be a little more efficient. While his numbers may not have backed up his case for having a good 2016 with St. Louis, Leake is a ground ball pitcher and suffered more than any other starter from shoddy defense.
Leake won’t be a guy who overpowers hitters, so he’s got to rely on his defense behind him to make the plays when he induces ground balls.
The Cardinals finished with seven hits including three from Magneuris Sierra, but they were shutout 2-0.
