Royals pitcher Danny Duffy does his job after getting call

The walk from the top of the mound to the home dugout took Royals pitcher Danny Duffy 17 seconds. And he savored all of them.

As he departed Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday, midway through the seventh inning, Duffy smacked his glove a few times, and the crowd rose for a brief standing ovation.

A day after Royals manager Ned Yost said lefty relievers Duffy and Franklin Morales would play prominent roles in the World Series, Duffy made the most of his initial appearance. He retired the only two New York Mets batters he faced — pinch-hitter Michael Cuddyer and right fielder Curtis Granderson.

It came in the middle of a 5-4 Royals victory.

“The teams that we played against — Houston and Toronto — weren’t really left-handed matchup type of teams for us. But we do have more matchup possibilities here,” Yost said Monday. “Morales and Danny definitely could play a bigger role in this series.”

The reason?

The Mets lineup.

New York started five left-handed hitters against Royals right-handed starter Edinson Volquez — and four of the five had been regulars for the Mets throughout the postseason. Hence the turn to Duffy in the seventh inning.

Duffy was slated to face back-to-back lefties before Mets manager Terry Collins countered by pinch-hitting Cuddyer for Kelly Johnson to lead off the inning. Duffy struck Cuddyer out looking on a full-count pitch. He then retired Granderson on a fly ball to right.

“I was just trying to get in and get quick outs,” Duffy said. “Cuddyer is a very selective hitter. I expected to face Johnson. ... Not much of a change of plan, but you need to make sure that you keep the ball down and execute every pitch.”

Duffy made only three appearances over the 11 games in the American League Division Series and American League Championship Series — allowing three runs over 3  2/3 innings.

Aside from the pure lefty-lefty matchups, Yost also hinted Monday that his bullpen alignment could look a bit different than it did in the ALCS, when setup man Ryan Madson posted a 7.71 earned run average in three games.

“The same thing that our offense does — we just try to keep the line moving, too,” Duffy said. “We know what we have in the tank. We know what we have to offer. Our bullpen’s outstanding.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 12:48 AM with the headline "Royals pitcher Danny Duffy does his job after getting call."