ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— Danny Duffy couldn’t get the no-hitter, but he still came away with a team record.
The left-hander 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.
Duffy (7-1) flirted with the Royals’ first no-hitter in nearly 25 years before giving up a line-drive double to Desmond Jennings leading off the Tampa Bay eighth.
“There’s been a number of occasions when Danny’s stepped on the mound and I said this might be the night,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “But when he got through the seventh I thought this MAY be the night.”
Bret Saberhagen pitched the Royals’ last no-hitter on Aug. 26, 1991, and Zack Greinke owned Kansas City’s strikeout record of 15 until Monday night.
“It’s an honor to have a game like those guys had,” Duffy said, “but I understand they had a lot more of those than I did. So I’m really still trying to do as good as I did tonight down the road.”
Jennings came off the disabled list Monday after missing all of July with a strained hamstring.
“It was hittable, a good pitch to hit,” Jennings said of the fastball he hit into the left-field corner. “It wasn’t looking too good for a little while.”
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. They added two more runs on three hits in the eighth.
Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his second save.
Duffy, a 27-year-old left-hander who spent the first six weeks of the season in the bullpen, walked one. He struck out seven in his first trip through the Rays’ lineup, and did not allow a baserunner until walking Logan Forsythe to lead off the fourth.
“My fastball was jumping out of my hand, my changeup felt really good and my changeup was there,” he said. “It was one of the few-and-far-between times that somebody has all of their pitches working the way they want.”
TWINS 12, INDIANS 5
CLEVELAND Rookie Max Kepler had three two-run homers and six RBIs, leading Minnesota over Cleveland.
The German-born Kepler homered off All-Star Danny Salazar in the first and third innings and hit another off Cody Anderson in the sixth. Kepler became the first Twin to homer three times in a game since Justin Morneau in 2007. He also had a single.
Joe Mauer was 4 for 4 and homered in the eighth off Andrew Miller, who was making his first appearance with Cleveland after being acquired Sunday from the Yankees.
Jose Berrios (2-1) retired 15 straight after a three-run first inning. The rookie right-hander, recalled from Triple-A Rochester before the game, allowed four hits in six innings.
Salazar (11-4) lost for the first time since May 22.
CUBS 5, MARLINS 0
CHICAGO Kyle Hendricks allowed just seven hits in his second career shutout, providing Chicago’s bullpen a needed breather.
After a wild, 12-inning win a night earlier in which manager Joe Maddon used 22 players, Hendricks (10-7) threw 123 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.22, third-best in the majors. He allowed three walks and struck out five.
Anthony Rizzo finished a home run shy of the cycle and reached base five times, and Addison Russell had a two-run single in the first off wild Marlins starter Adam Conley (7-6).
ASTROS 2, BLUE JAYS 1, 14 INNINGS
HOUSTON Carlos Correa hit an RBI double in the 14th inning off Scott Feldman hours after Feldman was traded from Houston to Toronto.
Jose Altuve, who homered earlier in the game, opened the 14th with a single to shallow left field off Feldman (5-4), and Correa followed with his hit off the fence in right-center field. It gave Houston its ninth walkoff win this season, and 14th with its last at-bat.
Michael Feliz (7-1) pitched a perfect 14th inning after Chris Devenski pitched 4 1/3 perfect innings after entering the game in the ninth.
YANKEES 6, METS 5, 10 INNINGS
NEW YORK Starlin Castro hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the Yankees hardly resembled a team resigned to fading away after selling off their stars at the trade deadline, rallying past the Mets in their Subway Series opener.
Didi Gregorius hit a tying single with two outs in the eighth and new closer Dellin Betances worked out of a major jam for his first save this season. Hours after trading slugger Carlos Beltran and pitcher Ivan Nova before the non-waiver deadline, the Yankees snapped a four-game slide.
Wilmer Flores and rookie Matt Reynolds homered for the skidding Mets, who lost their fifth in six games as fans in the sellout crowd of 42,125 traded chants throughout the night following a hectic afternoon at Citi Field.
Castro’s RBI came off Seth Lugo (0-1). Adam Warren (1-0) got his first win since returning to the Yankees.
Earlier in the day, the defending NL champions completed deals to land All-Star outfielder Jay Bruce and reacquire lefty Jon Niese.
RED SOX 2, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE Mookie Betts homered to lead off the ninth inning, Craig Kimbrel got his 18th save in his return from knee surgery and Boston beat James Paxton and Seattle.
Paxton held Boston to a run and four hits over eight innings before Betts hit his 22nd homer off closer Steve Cishek (2-6), who blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning Sunday against Chicago.
Kimbrel made his first appearance since having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee.
Junichi Tazawa (2-1) got the win with a scoreless eighth after Eduardo Rodriguez held Seattle to a run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings.
NATIONALS 14, DIAMONDBACKS 1
PHOENIX Anthony Rendon drove in three runs, Daniel Murphy went 3 for 3 and Stephen Strasburg got his major league-leading 15th win.
Strasburg (15-1) allowed a run and three hits in six innings, striking out six and walking two. He also had three hits and an RBI.
Arizona starter Archie Bradley (4-7) gave up eight runs and 12 hits in 3 1/3 innings.
PADRES 7, BREWERS 3
SAN DIEGO Yangervis Solarte drove in two runs, Travis Jankowski had three hits and two walks and San Diego beat Milwaukee.
Carlos Villanueva (2-2) pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief of starter Jarred Cosart, allowing two runs and two hits. Villanueva was the first of four Padres relievers.
Milwaukee’s Jimmy Nelson (6-10) exited with four innings pitched and eight hits allowed.
