Basisphilosophie » To say it was bad would be an understatement.

KANSAS CITY Jahlani Tavai Jersey , Mo. — It wasn’t Friday the 13th, but it was a nightmare nonetheless for Danny Duffy.

On May 13, the Kansas City Royals 29-year-old left-hander took the mound at Progressive Field in Cleveland. After 87 pitches in 3 1/3 innings, Duffy was finished.

“What do I remember from the last one?” Duffy said. “I try to forget it. It was probably the worst start I’ve had in a long timfe.”

Duffy gave up nine runs, eight hits and five walks and hit a batter. He yielded a three-run homer to Jose Ramirez in the second inning.

Manager Ned Yost mercifully replaced him in the third when Yan Gomes belted Duffy’s final pitch over the center-field fence with two runners on base.

Duffy gets a chance for a reprieve on Tuesday when he faces the Indians in the second game of the three-game series.

“I’m looking forward to getting out there,” he said. “It’s another challenge and I’m up for it. I’m going to do everything I can to execute every pitch and stay within my strengths.”

Duffy has not fared well against the Indians in his career. He is 2-8 with a 5.06 ERA, surrendering 39 earned runs in 69 1/3 inning in 17 career outings, 13 of them starts.

This season, he is 4-7 with a 4.94 ERA in 17 starts, allowing 95 hits, walking 46 and hitting two batters in 94 2/3 innings.

Opponents are batting .259 against Duffy. That breaks down to .264 by right-handed batters and .233 by left-handed batters. Lefties have hit .188 against Duffy since 2016.

Duffy has pitched better recently. He began the year 1-6 with a 6.88 ERA in his first 10 starts Will Harris Jersey , giving up 39 earned runs in 51 innings. He is 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA in his past seven starts, allowing 13 earned runs across 43 2/3 innings.

In his last start, Duffy picked up a 5-4 decision over the Milwaukee Brewers on the road. He permitted one run, five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in six innings. He stranded two runners in the first and third inning. Jesus Aguilar’s home run in the sixth was the only run Duffy allowed.

Duffy will be looking for his first Kauffman Stadium victory this season. He is 0-3 with a 6.32 ERA in six home starts. His last home victory was Aug. 22, 2017.

The Indians, who won the series opener 9-3 with Francisco Lindor driving in a career-high seven runs, will counter with rookie right-hander Shane Bieber, who is 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in his first four career starts.

“I just want to go out there and continue what I’ve been doing so far,” Bieber said. “That’s just throwing three or four pitches for strikes and getting ahead, and trying to put guys away when I can.

“Really, it’s just a matter of trusting (catchers) Yan (Gomes) or Berto (Roberto Perez). They always know exactly what they’re doing Austin Bryant Jersey , in case I don’t. They make up for my lack of experience.”

Bieber has plus breaking pitches.

“Right now, I’m relying on the slider and curveball,” he said. “I’ll use the fastball if they’re sitting on those two. I feel comfortable throwing those three especially. My change-up is a work in progress. All my pitches are a work in progress, obviously, but that one especially.

“Keeping them off balance with all three or four pitches is the best thing. If I can do that, things will be a little bit easier. That’s the goal for every starting pitcher.”

The Cincinnati Reds are much better now than they were a month into the season, and it’s partly because Anthony DeSclafani is much better than they anticipated.

Not only DeSclafani, the pitcher. DeSclafani, the hitter, too.

The Reds return to Great American Ball Park on Thursday to take on the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, but that’s nothing new of late for interim manager Jim Riggleman’s resurgent team.

The Reds have played their last seven games against teams that were in first place or within percentage points of the top spot. They swept the Cubs in four games and won two of three in Atlanta.

“It says a lot for our club that we can play first-place clubs and win these series Rashan Gary Jersey ,” Riggleman said Wednesday following a come-from-behind 6-5 win at Atlanta, the Reds’ ninth victory in 10 games and 12th victory in 15 games.

“(We want to) keep rolling into Cincinnati,” Adam Duvall said after his two-run single keyed a three-run seventh inning that included a Scooter Gennett RBI single.

DeSclafani (3-1, 4.09 ERA) is a big presence during the surge, and not just because he’s won his last three starts — this after missing all of last season and the first two months of this season with multiple injuries. After missing so much time, the Reds simply weren’t sure what they would get from him this season.

His last time out, the right-handed DeSclafani limited the Cubs to two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings, and he contributed the game’s biggest hit Saturday with a grand slam — the first slam by a Cincinnati pitcher in 59 years.

DeSclafani will be yet another bat in the Reds’ order that Milwaukee right-hander Junior Guerra (3-5, 2.82) must be concerned about in the opener of the four-game NL Central series.

The Brewers continue to occupy first place in the division, but even a three-run ninth inning wasn’t enough Wednesday as they lost 5-4 at home to the last-place Kansas City Royals, whose .313 winning percentage is the second-worst in the majors.

“Even in our losses Darnell Savage Jr. Jersey , we’re making the other team work a lot,” starting pitcher Brent Suter told reporters. “From that respect, I love how we’re playing. (But) it would be nice to win some of these series.”

The Brewers have lost six of their last 10 games, and now they must take on a Reds team that doesn’t look anything now like the team Milwaukee swept in a three-game series April 30-May 2 at Great American Ball Park — losses that dropped the Reds to 7-24. The Brewers have won five of six overall from the Reds this season.

“We just want to keep winning. If we take series after series we’re going to be just fine,” said Reds reliever Jackson Stephens (2-0), who got the win Wednesday with 1 2/3 scoreless relief innings.

The Brewers, conversely, led 1-0 Wednesday, only to have Suter and reliever Josh Hader give up five runs in the seventh inning. Hader allowed a two-run single to Adalberto Mondesi, Lucas Duda’s sacrifice fly and Whit Merrifield’s RBI single — the first time in 27 games this season Hader has given up more than one hit in an inning.

“Josh’s velocity was good. Everything was good,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. “He threw the ball well. They jumped on the first pitch Elgton Jenkins Jersey , and we’ve seen that a lot lately, but he’s been so effective that obviously multiple hits in an inning is something we haven’t seen. They got him today.”

The Reds certainly didn’t get to Guerra when they faced him on April 17.

Guerra didn’t get the decision in a 2-0 Brewers win, but he shut out the Reds on one hit over 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking three. In his career, he is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA against Cincinnati in five games, including four starts.

Most of the current Reds hitters have only a minimal number of at-bats against Guerra, with Eugenio Suarez going 2-for-3 with a homer.

DeSclafani is 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA in five games against the Brewers, starting four of them, but hasn’t faced them since 2016. Ryan Braun is 2-for-10 (.200) against him.