a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. J

BOSTON -- The second contest of the three-game series between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals on Saturday at Fenway park features two of the hottest pitchers in baseball.Royals left-hander Danny Duffy, who has won 10 straight decisions, faces Boston southpaw David Price, who has won his past three starts.Duffy is one win shy of tying Kansas Citys record for consecutive wins held by Rich Gale (1980) and Paul Splittorff (1977-78). He has emerged as a true ace with a record of 11-1 and a league-leading 2.66 ERA this season after starting the season in the bullpen. Duffy made 14 relief appearances before his first start May 15.Duffys latest masterpiece was a 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. He allowed one run on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Now he has to face the best offense in baseball as the Red Sox lead the majors in runs scored and just about every major offensive category.Youre playing against some of the best players in the world and Bostons offense is no pushover, Royals manager Ned Yost said after a 6-3 victory in the series opener Friday. But Dannys been throwing the ball extremely well. We have a lot of confidence in Danny and Danny has a lot of confidence in himself. So it should be a fun matchup.The Royals have won 11 of their past 12 and 16 of their past 19 games to pull within three of the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card in the American League.The Red Sox have lost three in a row and trail the Toronto Blue Jays by one game for first place in the American League East. Thats why the Red Sox need Price to continue to pitch like he has in a few of his recent starts.The left-hander has been among the leaders in hits allowed all season and is 12-8 with a 4.00 ERA. But he has also been among the American League leaders in strikeouts. He has allowed one run in his past 14 innings over two starts and the last time he took the mound, he shut out the Tampa Bay Rays on two hits over eight innings Monday.He leads the majors with nine starts of at least eight innings.To get that number of innings, youre keeping your club in the game, giving your club a chance to win, pitching coach Carl Willis told the Boston Globe. I know a lot of the numbers arent where he wants them to be, but those (innings) speak to what kind of pitcher he is.Duffy hasnt been the only hot Royals pitcher of late. Although they allowed a ninth-inning run Friday, the Royals bullpen had a streak of 41 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball -- a franchise record.Theyve done a great job, they really have, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said after Fridays victory. Especially on a night like tonight to come in there in the sixth, seventh inning and shut the door like they did was huge for us. I think we all like that that streak ended because it was a win and they got rid of the streak, so we dont got to worry about that anymore.Theyve been the backbone of our team, thats whats been the strength of our team. We try to do whatever we can to get leads and hand them off to them. Nikola Jokic Jersey . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Malik Beasley Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. http://www.nuggetsprostore.com/kids-jamal-murray-nuggets-jersey/ . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. Gary Harris Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA will begin distributing some revenue to member schools for the academic achievement of its athletes, starting in 2019-20.The NCAA announced Thursday that the Division I Board of Directors and NCAA Board of Governors approved the change to the revenue distribution model. The money will come from the NCAAs multimedia rights deal for the mens basketball tournament.The NCAA agreed to an eight-year extension of its deal with CBS and Turner earrlier this year.dddddddddddd The contract now runs through 2032 and pays the NCAA about $1.1 billion per year, an increase of about $330 million annually. The NCAA says for the first six years of the new distribution, 75 percent of the increase in rights fees will be used to pay schools based on the academic performance of their teams. ' ' '