Royals veterans Sal Perez and Danny Duffy set tone in an 11-3 romp over the Twins
The combination of Salvador Perez and Danny Duffy has rarely been a harbinger of good things for Minnesota Twins fans. The Kansas City Royals’ longest-tenured players have had more than their share of match-ups with the Twins, and they’ve each enjoyed abundant success.
That trend continued in a big way Saturday afternoon as Perez etched his name in Target Field lore, while Duffy continued one of the most dominant stretches of any pitcher in club history.
The Royals routed the two-time defending American League Central Division champion Twins, 11-3, in front of an announced 9,993 in the second game of a three-game series at Target Field.
The win for the Royals (16-9) evened the series at 1-1 after a loss on Friday night, and that sets up a rubber match on Sunday afternoon.
“That’s leadership when you’ve got people to follow you,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Duffy and Perez. “These guys have been doing a great job of how they’re preparing, how they’re communicating, and then how they’re performing. It’s been a pleasure to watch Duffy and watch him continue to want to even push and help pick us up.
“It was one of those situations where you’ve got two guys that have been around a long time that were just standouts and stars today.”
Duffy — who entered the day with an ERA (0.39) slightly better than New York Mets pitching sensation Jacob deGrom — pitched seven innings, struck out seven and allowed one run on two hits as he recorded his fifth consecutive quality start in five games this season.
Perez drove in or scored each of the game’s first four runs. He went 2 for 3 with a double, a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored in six innings before giving way to backup catcher Cam Gallagher after the score got out of hand.
Perez hit the first of the Royals’ four home runs in the game. His third-inning mammoth 434-foot blast to the right-center field upper deck gave him the most of any non-Twins player in Target Field’s history (18).
“I have been with him every step of the way, and I have seen him excel, especially here” Duffy said of Perez. “I know it’s a comfy place for him to hit. Sometimes there’s just places like that for pitchers, for hitters. Outfielders see the ball off the bat better in certain places. It is cool. He exudes confidence everywhere he goes, but his track record here is certainly very good.”
Andrew Benintendi, who had two hits robbed from him by Twins center fielder Byron Buxton on Friday night, blasted two home runs — one to right field and one to left field — to give him three during the road trip. Benintendi went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Ryan O’Hearn also belted his second homer in his fifth game of the season.
Duffy didn’t allow a run until the seventh inning when Twins rookie first baseman Alex Kirilloff hit a solo home run into the bullpen beyond the wall in left-center field.
Duffy has now posted the second lowest ERA by a Royals pitcher through five starts (0.60) in a season. His mark trails only Zack Greinke’s 0.50 ERA in 2009.
Duffy used his slider, curveball and changeup along with a fastball clocked slightly above 96 mph to stifle the Twins (9-16). Duffy got Twins batters to swing and miss 11 times out of 107 pitches.
“All three were working pretty well,” Duffy said of his off-speed pitches. “Early on they were working better than my fastball was, just with regards to location and sharpness. When you’ve got four pitches working, it’s a good thing. So I want to keep that going and keep feeling the way I feel.”
Duffy has allowed two earned runs in 30 innings this season. He has now allowed two runs or fewer in 16 of 23 career starts against the division-rival Twins.
“He’s a bulldog,” Benintendi said. “It seems like he pitches deep into games a lot, keeps guys off-balance. He’s just locked in. It’s fun to play behind him. He’s doing what he does.”
The Royals surpassed their scoring output from the series opener by the end of the first inning on Saturday. Perez’s RBI double scored Carlos Santana to give them a lead right out of the gate, and Jorge Soler’s sacrifice fly scored Perez to give them their second run of the inning.
The previous night, they’d been held to one run on four hits.
The Royals entered the day one of two American League teams that Twins starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker had never beaten in eight MLB seasons.
Perez continued the assault on Shoemaker with the homer in the third that gave the Royals a 4-0 lead.
O’Hearn’s second homer of the season gave the Royals a 5-0 advantage in the fourth. Later in the five-run fourth, Whit Merrifield’s bases-loaded three-run double through a drawn-in infield gave the Royals an 8-0 lead and forced Shoemaker out of the game.
Merrifield’s broken-bat liner up the middle deflected off the glove of second baseman Jorge Polanco and into center field. None of the Royals runners slowed as the ball continued into the outfield. Nicky Lopez scored from first without breaking stride, and Merrifield ran hard out of the box and ended up on second base.
“That’s how I hope we’re defined as a club, that we’re just searching, scraping, scratching for that next 90 feet no matter what,” Matheny said of the play. “That puts pressure (on a defense), and that pressure eventually leads in our direction.”
The Royals led 10-0 before the Twins scored their first run. They scored their final two runs against relief pitcher Jake Brentz.
Roster moves: The Royals announced a pair of roster moves prior to Saturday’s game. They optioned Infielder/outfielder Ryan McBroom to the alternate site and recalled left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic. Bubic, who made 10 starts in the majors last season, was available out of the bullpen. The Royals also placed relief pitcher Kyle Zimmer on the injured list with a left trap strain, and they recalled right-handed relief pitcher Jake Newberry.
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Royals veterans Sal Perez and Danny Duffy set tone in an 11-3 romp over the Twins."
