An umpire didn’t call a checked swing a strike; Royals’ Danny Duffy was ejected in the loss

The Royals have seen Danny Duffy melt down often this season.

He once threw a cooler at the wall of the visiting dugout at Progressive Field in Cleveland. He often berated himself in post-game interviews, frustrated with his inability to keep runs off the board in the opening months of this oft-times demoralizing campaign.

But the self-flagellation and physical manifestations of Duffy’s ire paled in comparison to the scene that unfolded after a missed call failed to give Duffy strike three in the sixth inning of the Royals’ 8-3 loss to the Cardinals on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.

In the aftermath, Royals manager Ned Yost told reporters he agreed with Duffy’s reaction, “no doubt.”

But in the moment, Duffy’s reaction bordered on chaotic.

Duffy had fought command all evening. He’d given up seven hits in 5 1/3 innings and watched the Cardinals reel off five consecutive two-out hits in the third to put the Royals in an early hole. He seemed to have found a groove, setting down eight straight batters before Jedd Gyorko lined a single to left field with one out in the sixth.

But Duffy lost all composure shortly after the single. In a 1-2 count against Harrison Bader, Duffy threw an 81 mph change-up outside the zone to entice a chase. It seemed that Bader fell for the bait — until first-base umpire Adam Hamari ruled on appeal that Bader checked his swing and did not make an attempt to strike the ball.

Instead of striking out, Bader hit a two-run homer three pitches later. As Bader rounded the bases, Duffy said he unleashed a yell at the ground.

“It was so blatant that he went,” Duffy said of the checked swing.

When Yost came to yank Duffy from the game, Duffy said Hamari walked over to warn him against saying another word.

Duffy refused to hold back.

Duffy charged after Hamari, yelling and gesturing with a baseball still clutched in his hand. Third-base umpire Tom Hallion got between Hamari, Duffy and Yost, who had gone to first base to suss out the situation. Pitching coach Cal Eldred emerged from the dugout and second baseman Whit Merrifield tried to help Eldred hold Duffy back, both trying to restore order and calm.

Nothing seemed to help. Duffy tried to barrel through Eldred’s restraining grip, twisting around with Hamari still in his sights.

As an announced sell-out crowd of 38,427 crowed, Eldred reeled Duffy in and led him back to the Royals’ dugout.

“I’ve been respectful, respectful, respectful my entire career,” Duffy said. “And these guys I’ve built a pretty good rapport with. When I didn’t say another word, it’s just one of those things where it’s like, ‘Dude, what am I allowed to do? As a human being, what am I allowed to do?’

“I was upset with the situation, I was upset with the missed call, and I let it out. I didn’t think it was enough for him to walk towards me and instigate it, which he did. Definitely some instigation there. Baited me, for sure. But it’s just one of those things that happens in this game.”

Duffy has been ejected only one other time in his career. He was thrown out from a loss to the Astros on June 17 by umpire John Tumpane, who took exception to Duffy arguing on Mike Moustakas’ behalf from the dugout.

Otherwise, his record is clean. Duffy could have started an argument with home-plate umpire Bill Miller last week in Minneapolis, but he kept calm even after Miller had missed a couple of borderline calls to prolong an at-bat that ended in a grand slam by rookie Jake Cave.

On Saturday night, the frustration boiled over.

“I quite frankly would have reacted the same way,” Yost said. “He was out there, had the rough third inning where he had a couple of curveballs that he couldn’t quite get down to get damage on, but outside of that, he’s competing his tail off without his best stuff.”

Duffy was charged with six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He issued only one walk but had trouble cranking up the velocity on both of his fastballs. He averaged around 90 mph with the 54 fastballs he threw. Duffy chalked the diminished velocity up to “not feeling great” but didn’t otherwise describe what’s ailing him.

“I mean, we’re all trying to get it right, man,” Duffy said. “Everyone’s out here trying to get it right. He missed that call, and there might have been some residual from the last game, because that was another event that a hitter was given an extra two strikes. You just can’t do that with big-league hitters. It’s not what lost us the game, certainly isn’t. I didn’t pitch a good game tonight. But I’m out there grinding, man.”

The Royals couldn’t bring themselves back from the brink.

Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty had the Royals handcuffed through four innings. He allowed just one single and issued three walks during that span. A Royals runner didn’t reach second base until Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter failed to corral Flaherty’s pickoff throw in the fourth inning, allowing Alex Gordon to advance on an error.

Flaherty faltered in the fifth. Royals rookie first baseman Ryan O’Hearn shot an opposite-field single into right field with one out, and he scored three pitches later when Alcides Escobar fended off an inside fastball and launched it an estimated 391 feet to left field for a two-run homer to halve the Cardinals’ four-run lead.

It was not enough. Flaherty struck out nine in seven innings. The Cardinals bullpen did the rest.

The Royals, who logged five hits, fell to 35-81.

This story was originally published August 11, 2018 at 9:27 PM.