Kendrys Morales, Danny Duffy lead Royals past Cardinals 6-2

For two months, the art of hitting confounded Kendrys Morales. The struggles piled up, weighing on the mind and the body. The Royals waited for relief.

For two months, Morales was a designated hitter who could not do his job, a proud veteran who could not solve a nasty slump. On an almost daily basis, his manager offered positive thoughts. But the rhetoric could not carry onto the field.

The Royals understood the roots of the problem, that Morales could not lay off a breaking ball from the left side of the plate. And yet, the slump continued. Opposing pitchers kept spinning curveballs into the dirt. Morales kept chasing. On June 5, Morales was batting .191 after a loss in Cleveland.

It’s hard to know when the fever broke for good, when Morales found the left-handed swing that carried him to a Silver Slugger Award in 2015. Perhaps it was two days later, when Morales racked up three hits following a day off in Cleveland. Perhaps it was later that week, when Morales blasted a homer in a victory in Chicago. Perhaps now, the answer does not matter. Because here was Morales on Monday night, racking up four more hits in the Royals’ 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, offering another post mortem for a slump that appears to be finally dead.

Morales’ offense set the tone early as the Royals welcomed their state brethren into town. His two-out single in the first inning plated two runs, erased an early 2-0 deficit and served as a warning shot for Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright.

All season, Wainwright had allowed three hits with two outs and runners in scoring position. On Monday, the Royals racked up four in the opening frames and raked Wainwright for six runs in two innings.

The offensive punch was enough for left-hander Danny Duffy, who allowed a two-run blast in the top of the first and then settled into one of the most complete outings of his career. Duffy went eight innings for the second time in his career, allowing two runs while throwing 101 pitches.

He finished with eight strikeouts and no walks, shaking off the lack of command that had crippled his last start in New York. Duffy lowered his season ERA to 3.24 and further saved a bullpen that was heavily taxed over the weekend. More important: Duffy became the first Kansas City starter to finish eight innings in 2016.

The Royals, meanwhile, kept pace in the American League Central, improving to 40-35 as they began a stretch of four games in four nights against St. Louis. On Tuesday, the Royals will play host once more before the series shifts across I-70 to Busch Stadium.

On Monday, the Royals’ bats seized control early on. Morales dropped a two-out, two-run single over the shift in the bottom of the first. Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez added RBI singles with two outs in the bottom of the second.

As the runs piled up, a stadium of Royals fans exulted, shouting out a large contingent of red-clad Cardinals fans.

Morales added another single — to the exact same spot — before slicing a double to left field. When he added another single in the eighth, his batting average had ballooned to .243, its highest point since April 23.

A season ago, Morales sparked the Royals’ offense with 22 homers, 41 doubles and 106 RBIs. He was part reclamation project, part professional hitter and his production helped lead Kansas City to another pennant.

After two months of waiting, the old Morales may finally be back.

This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Kendrys Morales, Danny Duffy lead Royals past Cardinals 6-2."