Duffy will try to help lift Royals out of another skid

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- To suggest that LHP Danny Duffy has been the only thing positive about Kansas City Royals pitching in the past month is nearly correct.

As the Royals visit the Tampa Bay Rays to open a four-game series, they do so in the midst of a four-game skid that began after Duffy's last start, which came after another four-game losing streak.

In Kansas City's last 25 games, the Royals are 5-0 when Duffy starts and 2-18 when he doesn't.

"He simplified his mechanics, so he's able to repeat them consistently," Royals manager Ned Yost explained Sunday. "He's throwing strikes with all three of his pitches, managing his pitch count very, very effectively. And he's really just turned the corner."

And a 27-year-old who has only once had a winning record in five previous seasons -- and that was going 2-0 in five starts in 2013 -- is now 6-1, and again the Royals' best chance to pull out of a slide that has seen them drop eight of nine games.

The Rays, somehow, are on the opposite tear. After a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees, they've matched a season high with four straight wins. They've done it with the opposite of the Royals' problem: reliable, consistent quality starts from their pitching staff.

Watch the Royals Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every Kansas City Royals game on FOX Sports Kansas City.

Sunday's starter, LHP Blake Snell, gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings for the win but fell two outs shy of the minimum for a "quality start," thus ending a streak of 10 straight quality starts by Rays pitchers.

"We're starting to see a trend: When you pitch well and play good defense, you give yourself a chance to win consecutive ballgames," said Rays manager Kevin Cash, not far removed from a stretch where the Rays won three of 27 games.

The Rays are scheduled to start RHP Chris Archer, who has a major league-high 14 losses, against the Royals, but there's the possibility he could be dealt in a blockbuster move before Monday's 4 p.m. trading deadline. Archer has been mentioned as a possibility for the Los Angeles Dodgers, though the price would be expensive to pry an All-Star leader from Tampa Bay.

The Rays could be very busy -- fellow starters Matt Moore and Jake Odorizzi have both been mentioned as trade targets, as has versatile infielder Steve Pearce, who is a free agent this winter.

The three-game sweep this weekend was enough to make the Yankees sellers, trading away prized reliever Andrew Miller, but will it be enough to keep the Rays from moving major pieces of their franchise?

As it stands, the Rays being active at the trade deadline would be one thing to help change the momentum of two teams -- the Rays, getting back to their winning ways but far out of contention, and the Royals, hoping to get another win from Duffy, their proven streak-buster.