KANSAS CITY -- If the Royals are to crawl into postseason contention, they’ll need more of what they got Friday from two key veterans: designated hitter Jorge Soler and left-hander Danny Duffy.
Soler, who had a dreadful recent road trip (3-for-23), slammed a three-run homer in the first inning against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium and Duffy held Minnesota to one run through five innings as the Royals pulled away for a 7-2 victory.
• Box score
Whit Merrifield opened the Royals’ first with a double off of righty Jake Odorizzi, went to third on Nicky Lopez’s single and scored on a pop-fly single by Hunter Dozier.
Soler followed by crushing a 1-2 slider into the left-field bullpen for a three-run jack, his sixth of the season. That gave the Royals an early 4-0 cushion.
• Eye ailment sends Salvy to injured list
Duffy, meanwhile, grinded. He scattered four hits, walked two and struck out six.
Duffy got nicked for a run in the second on a walk, a single through the shift and an RBI groundout from Ehire Adrianza.
Duffy got out of a first-and-third two-out jam in the third by striking out Miguel Sanó on a fastball up. Duffy retired seven of the final eight Twins he faced.
Duffy’s changeup was effective all night and kept the Twins off-balance. He threw 14 of them: six were called strikes or swings and misses.
Curiously, Duffy departed after 81 pitches. His fastball velocity dipped to 89 mph in his final inning.