ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Danny Duffy took a shutout into the eighth inning, Salvador Perez drove in four runs and the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Thursday night for their season-best third straight victory.
Duffy (2-6) allowed a run and four hits, struck out five and walked two in 7 2/3 innings in his longest outing of the season. The veteran left-hander entered the game with a 6.88 ERA this season and had allowed at least five earned runs in five of his previous 10 starts.
After Delino DeShields led off Texas’ first inning with a single to right field, Duffy didn’t allow another hit until Shin-Soo Choo singled in the seventh. Rougned Odor broke up the shutout bid with a two-out single in the eighth, ending Duffy’s night.
Both of Perez’s two-run singles came with two outs, in the fifth and seventh innings.
Rangers right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-1) gave up six runs, four earned, on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He made his season debut for Texas after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock earlier in the day.
Ramon Torres had two hits and three runs in his first appearance of the season. He was a late lineup replacement for Eric Gordon, who had a sore hip and a stiff neck.
The Royals scored two unearned runs in the second inning after having no one on with two outs. Torres, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha last Saturday, followed Ryan Goins’ single to center that rolled past DeShields’ glove. Goins and Torres both scored on the three-base error.
Bibens-Dirkx filled the rotation spot left vacant when left-hander Matt Moore went on the 10-day disabled list Saturday with a sore right knee.
SHORT HOPS
Perez threw out DeShields at second base in the first inning after Duffy’s pitch bounced in the dirt and off batter Choo’s face to Perez. … To make room for Bibens-Dirkx on Texas’ 40-man roster, left-hander Brandon Mann was optioned to Round Rock. Mann appeared in three games, making his major league debut on May 13, after pitching 15 years in the minors and Japan.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: Gordon was injured making a diving catch during Wednesday’s win at St. Louis.
UP NEXT
Royals LHP Eric Skoglund (1-4) has lost three straight. He allowed six earned runs in five innings Sunday in the New York Yankees’ 10-1 win.
Rangers LHP Mike Minor (3-3), who spent last season as a Royals reliever, has also lost three straight. He gave up 14 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings in the three games.
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