Danny Duffy flirts with perfect game in win over Orioles

Royal pitcher Danny Duffy continues his comeback from Tommy John surgery and flirts with a perfect game on the way to a win versus Orioles. And a Giants fans shows everyone how it’s done.

by Nick Bond

May 18, 2014, 11:27 AM UTC

Jamie Squire

Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy continued what's been a steady return from his 2012 Tommy John surgery, striking out two in seven shutout innings while flirting with a perfect game before having it broken up by Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones in the top of the seventh inning.

Duffy has been lights out for the relatively small amount he's pitched so far this season, posting a 1.96 ERA in 18.1 innings before Saturday's game. The innings pitched will likely increase rapidly, however; this was only his third start after being officially named the team's fifth starter -- following Bruce Chen being placed on the DL -- just a little over a week ago.

At the time, Royals general manager Dayton Moore seemed to indicate that the move was less temporary stopgap and more ‘trial run’. When it happened, Moore stated unequivocally that “it’s safe to assume that Duff is a part of this rotation for the immediate future,” while -- according to the Kansas City Star’s Andy McCullogh -- hinting that if Duffy pitched well, the spot would be his.

If Duffy keeps pitching like he did on Saturday -- which doubled as the day when Chen was supposed to come back from a bulging disc in his back -- James Shields' spot as the team's ace may be next.

Lagares makes it look exactly as hard as it actually is

Mets' center fielder Juan Lagares helped preserve a 5-2 lead against the Washington Nationals by robbing outfielder Jayson Werth of a home run to straight-away center field. While it wasn't particularly graceful, everyone was rightly impressed. Especially Bartolo Colon.