Last men standing: Royals become baseball's only undefeated team
The Royals are all alone at the top of the standings.
Following Monday's 12-3 embarrassment of the Twins, Kansas City (7-0) is baseball's last remaining undefeated team. Division rival Detroit also entered Monday unblemished but lost to Pittsburgh.
The Royals' start is the club's best since the 2003 team went 9-0 to open its season. No major league team since that 2003 squad has opened the season with more than six straight victories.
Danny Duffy threw 6 1/3 solid innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He gave up one run in the first inning and single tallies in the sixth and seventh. But from the second through the fifth innings, he sat down 12 of the 13 Minnesota hitters he faced.
The Royals carried a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning before exploding for six runs in the frame off just two hits. Four Twins pitchers combined for three walks and two hit batsmen. Kansas City sent 11 batters to the plate.
3 UP
• Morales waves goodbye. Kendrys Morales destroyed his second home run of the season, a booming fastball into the second deck beyond the right-center-field wall. Morales played 39 games for Minnesota last season and hit just one homer. He now has two in seven games with Kansas City.
Morales' long ball also marked the seventh straight game the Royals have hit a homer. The franchise has never started the season with such a streak and hasn't had one overall since August 2012. Kansas City now has 10 home runs in seven games after hitting 95 all of last season.
PHOTO GALLERY: Check out these images from the Royals' 12-3 win at Minnesota.
• Hitting streaks. Four Royals entered Monday's game having hit in every game this season. Four Royals left Monday's game having hit in every game this season.
Morales, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez each had at least one hit against Minnesota and combined to go 7 for 18 with six RBIs. Escobar actually carries a career-long 16-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
• The defense ... again. What else is new? Great defensive plays were the norm for Kansas City last season and the Royals continue to impress. Alex Rios made a nice running catch going back toward the warning track that potentially saved a run. Four-time Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon stole a hit from Joe Mauer with a diving catch in the third inning.
3 DOWN
• The bullpen ERA. Nothing can get lower than the Royals' bullpen ERA -- Kansas City's relievers have yet to allow a run this season. Ryan Madson and Franklin Morales threw 2 2/3 innings in relief, pushing the Royals' shutout streak to 19 innings to open the season.
Kansas City's pen is the only bullpen in the majors that has yet to surrender a run. Last season, Royals relievers had a 3.30 ERA and helped Kansas City go 72-1 when leading after seven innings.
• Another early deficit. The Royals fell behind 1-0 in the first inning for the third consecutive game. In Anaheim, the Angels hit a pair of solo homers to take an early lead. On Monday, the Twins used a Brian Dozier double and a two-out single from Kennys Vargas to put the Royals in a hole.
The Royals responded with Morales' home run in the second and another run in the third. One day earlier against the Angels, Kansas City scored four runs in the second inning.
• Twins defense. As good as the Kansas City defense was, Minnesota's defense was not. The Twins committed two errors, but miscues allowed the Kansas City offense to get going.
In the third inning, Perez's groundball snuck between two Twins infielders for a single. Three batters later, Minnesota couldn't convert Mike Moustakas' grounder into an out and the Royals capitalized with Cain's sacrifice fly.
Torii Hunter also misjudged a ball in the sixth inning that led to a Cain double, but compounded his mistake by missing the cutoff man and allowing an extra run to score. Danny Santana's fielding error in the eighth also directly led to a run.
WHAT'S NEXT
Right-hander Edinson Volquez will try to keep the Royals' perfect record intact Wednesday, when he takes on Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson. Both teams have Tuesday off.
Volquez dazzled in his Royals debut Thursday, when he completed eight innings in just 95 pitches, allowing one run on four hits. Volquez will be facing the Twins for just the second time in his career and pitching at Target Field for the first time. He last faced Minnesota in 2007, when he was with Texas.
Gibson, a former Mizzou standout, struggled in his first start of the season Thursday, failing to record 12 outs while surrendering six runs on eight hits against the Tigers. Gibson has pitched well against the Royals in his career, though, posting a 3-0 record and 1.40 ERA in three starts. Last year, he gave up one run in 13 1/3 innings against Kansas City.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
