Danny Duffy pitched eight innings of one-hit ball and had a franchise-record 16 strikeouts to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
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Duffy (7-1) flirted with the Royals’ first no-hitter in almost 25 years before giving up a line-drive double to Desmond Jennings leading off the Tampa Bay eighth.
Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain drove in runs in the eighth for the Royals, who won for only the second time in 10 games.
Tampa Bay Rays’ Steven Souza Jr. reacts after striking out off Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy during the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 1, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Twins 12, Indians 5 • Rookie Max Kepler had three two-run homers and six RBIs, leading visiting Minnesota over Cleveland. Bret Saberhagen pitched Kansas City’s last no-hitter nearly 25 years ago.
The Royals’ last no-hitter came almost 25 years ago, when Bret Saberhagen no-hit the White Sox on August 26, 1991. He was six outs away from no-hitting the Rays for the sixth time.
The Rays were woeful with the sticks yesterday and if not for a Desmond Jennings liner into left field to lead off the eighth inning they would have been the answer to a trivia question as Duffy was dominant in his no hit bid. Duffy gave up only one walk in the second inning to Logan Forsythe on a full count.
Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura will follow his first career complete game, a 3-2 loss at Texas on Thursday, in his 21st start of the season Tuesday night. Strahm made his major-league debut Sunday, giving up one hit and one run in one-third of an inning in a loss to the Rangers for a 27.00 ERA.
NOTES: The Rays played Monday’s game with only 23 players, unable to make moves to replace two of the three players they traded just before the 4 p.m. trade deadline.
So what if if it was only Steve Pearce and Brandon Guyer who were traded from the lineup. The only immediate help will be former Giants 3B Matt Duffy, who is expected to become the Rays’ every-day shortstop once he’s recovered from an Achilles’ injury.
“It was hittable, a good pitch to hit”, Jennings said of the fastball he hit into the left-field corner. That will shift current SS Brad Miller to either first base or the outfield.
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The defending World Series champions entered Monday on a four-game skid and in fourth in the AL Central, having been swept by the Rangers, and the Rays came in on a season-best four-game win streak. He’s split the season between starting and relieving with a 2.75 ERA in 18 total appearances.
