Since DL stint, when Duffy starts, Royals usually win
Kansas City Royals left-hander Danny Duffy's record since coming off the disabled list in late June is 4-2. But the Royals are 8-2 in those games -- and hoping to go to 9-2 after Duffy's start Thursday night in Boston.
Only two major league pitchers -- and no American Leaguers -- have enjoyed a higher winning percentage since the start of last month than Duffy.
HIGHEST TEAM WIN PERCENTAGE IN PITCHER'S STARTS SINCE JULY 1*
| Pitcher, team | Record | Win percentage |
| Francisco Liriano, Pittsburgh Pirates | 8-0 | 1.000 |
| Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs | 8-1 | .889 |
| Danny Duffy, Kansas City Royals |
7-1 | .875 |
| Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers |
7-1 | .875 |
| Jacob deGrom, New York Mets |
7-1 | .875 |
| * Minimum six starts |
While the Royals enter this series with the league's best record (73-46) and the Red Sox occupy the AL East basement (54-66), Boston has had Kansas City's number over the last two seasons, winning eight of 10 matchups. But that doesn't change the fact that the Red Sox, winners of the 2013 World Series, have endured one of the worst two-year stretches ever following a world championship season.
WORST COMBINED RECORD IN FOLLOWING TWO SEASONS AFTER WINNING WORLD SERIES
| Team | Record | Win percentage |
| 1998-99 Florida Marlins | 118-206 | .364 |
| 1994-95 Toronto Blue Jays | 111-148 | .429 |
| 2014-15 Boston Red Sox* | 125-157 | .443 |
| 1914-15 Philadelphia Athletics |
142-162 | .467 |
| 1919-20 Boston Red Sox | 138-152 | .476 |
| * Season in progress |
Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales got some rest during the team's two interleague wins in Cincinnati, but he'll be back in the lineup this weekend. That's good news for the Royals, who welcome his .289 average, 13 homers and 83 RBIs. That RBI total ranks fifth in the league, but with two outs, no one in baseball has knocked in more runs than Morales.
MORE RBIS WITH TWO OUTS IN 2015
| Player | Team | RBIs |
| Kendrys Morales | Kansas City Royals | 42 |
| David Peralta | Arizona Diamondbacks | 39 |
| Buster Posey | San Francisco Giants | 39 |
| Brandon Crawford | San Francisco Giants | 37 |
| Nolan Arenado | Colorado Rockies | 36 |
MOST PRODUCTIVE OUTS IN 2015
| Player |
Team | Productive outs* |
| Shin-soo Choo | Texas Rangers | 27 |
| Mike Moustakas | Kansas City Royals | 26 |
| Elvis Andrus | Texas Rangers | 26 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | Colorado Rockies | 25 |
| Jason Heyward |
St. Louis Cardinals |
25 |
| Kevin Pillar |
Toronto Blue Jays |
25 |
|
* Advances runner; excludes double plays |
