“Everybody’s happy about that”, Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He had everything going”. The rookie right-hander, recalled from Triple-A Rochester before the game, allowed four hits in six innings.
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Kendrys Morales’ 18th home run, a towering shot over the center field wall off Rays starter Chris Archer (5-15), got the Royals on the scoreboard in the seventh.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Danny Duffy couldn’t get the no-hitter, but he still came away with a team record.
Evidently, the Tampa Bay Rays traded away their offense Monday afternoon.
Duffy is hitting.253 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in an injury-plagued season. In the second inning, Duffy struck out the side by fanning Steven Souza, Jr., Desmond Jennings and Kevin Kiermaier.
Duffy was asked if there was disappointment after giving up the hit in the eighth, and he was blunt in saying there wasn’t, with his focus squarely on just winning. Darvish says he is ready for 100 pitches after coming back from Tommy John surgery, but that remains to be seen. “I never will”, he said.
Archer gave up three runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out six to raise his AL-leading total to 161.
Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain drove in runs in the eighth for the Royals. “I was just trying to follow Salvi [Royals catcher Salvador Perez]”.
Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his second save.
Zack Greinke had set the Royals’ single-game strikeout record at 15 on August 25, 2009. The Rays have been no-hit five times, most recently by Seattle’s Felix Hernandez in 2012, and only once at Tropicana Field, by Arizona’s Edwin Jackson in 2010.
Duffy struck out a career-high 14 and allowed his only baserunner when Logan Forsythe walked on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth Monday night. He will now be the everyday third baseman.
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You couldn’t fault the Rays if the trades that sent pitcher Matt Moore to the Giants, outfielder Brandon Guyer to the Indians and infielder Steve Pearce to Orioles took a little steam out of them before they took the field. Duffy comes to Tampa Bay on the disabled list still, but he reportedly began running the bases last week and may begin a rehab assignment soon. The Rays received two minor-leaguers for Moore in addition to 25-year-old infielder Matt Duffy, who now is on the disabled list with a strained Achilles tendon and is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon. With Moore gone to San Francisco, RHP Matt Andriese will return to the starting rotation, beginning with Tuesday’sgame against the Royals. He walked just one batter and ceded just one hit.
