Royals’ duo of Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier step up with Salvador Perez sidelined
The Kansas City Royals placed star catcher Salvador Perez on the injured list Friday afternoon with an eye ailment, but their other two big middle-of-the lineup hitters picked up the slack and powered the club to victory.
Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier crushed home runs in the same game for the first time this season and Whit Merrifield reached base three times (two hits, one walk) as the Royals grabbed a 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
The win assured the Royals (11-15) no worse than a split of their season series with the Twins (17-10), who entered the day leading the AL Central Division. The Royals have won five of the eight games between the teams.
Dozier, who started the season on the IL due to a COVID-19 infection, went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Dozier and Soler batted third and fourth, respectively, and collected three RBIs apiece.
“We have to have a couple guys really step up,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Every time you lose somebody, it creates another opportunity whether it’s a spot in the lineup for (Cam Gallagher) or a spot in leadership in that lineup, someone to take the bull by the horns and make some things happen. So it was a good day.”
Royals starting pitcher Danny Duffy allowed one run on four hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out six before being replaced. He threw 81 pitches.
Duffy has allowed five or fewer hits in each of his first six starts, which matched Edinson Volquez in 2015 for the longest streak to begin a season by a Royals starter.
“I’m starting to gain a little bit more confidence with that again,” Duffy said of his changeup. “I’ve really been able to get on top of it and drive through it instead of leaving them up every other time I throw it. It’s been effective. The last couple starts it has been really good.”
Meanwhile, the Royals knocked Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi out of the game in the fourth inning after he took a 103 mph line drive up the middle off his ribs. Alex Gordon rifled the ball back up the middle and the former KC prospect went down to a knee immediately.
Odorizzi stayed down for several moments when manager Rocco Baldelli and a member of the Twins training staff came out to the mound. Odorizzi stopped and hunched over on his way to the dugout after Baldelli had called for a reliever. The Twins said X-rays were negative and described his injury as an abdomen bruise.
Four first-inning runs gave the Royals just the remedy they needed after being held to one hit by Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader.
Merrifield doubled to the left-center field gap and Nicky Lopez singled to put runners on the corners. Dozier’s pop-up dropped in for another base. It fell between first baseman Miguel Sano, who was on the run, and second baseman Ildemaro Vargas, who was a few steps onto the outfield grass. Merrifield scored on that play.
“That’s a big inning for us,” Dozier said. “That kind of set the tone for that game. Whit did a good job getting that double. Nicky had a good at-bat. I got lucky, and then Soler had that nice home run to kind of start things off.”
Soler followed with his sixth home run of the season. He smashed a 1-2 slider on a line into the left-field bullpen to drive in three and give the Royals a 4-0 advantage.
Ehire Adrianza’s second-inning RBI groundout drove in the Twins’ first run. Duffy stranded three runners combined between the second and third innings.
The Royals tacked on a run in the fourth when Merrifield drew a bases-loaded walk after Odorizzi left the game. That gave the Royals a 5-1 lead going into the fifth inning.
Dozier’s two-run homer in the seventh added to the lead. He has now hit three homers in his last six games.
“Anytime you can barrel a ball, it feels good,” Dozier said. “It’s early. I know we only have 30-something games left. It feels early. I’m just trying to get my timing back. I might be pressing a little bit at times, trying to do too much at times instead of just reacting and let things come to me.”
Royals right-handed reliever Kyle Zimmer, making his second appearance in the last two weeks, allowed a run to score on a walk, a double and a wild pitch in the eighth inning.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 10:39 PM.
