tive doubles leading off the seventh by Justin Maxwell and Bonifacio. Phil Coke and Al Alburquerque pitched the ninth for Detroit, combining to retire the Ro

DETROIT -- Neither Danny Duffy nor his manager was giving much thought to the possibility of a no-hitter on Friday. The left-hander, who is 14 months removed from elbow surgery, was actually happy to finally give up a hit against the Tigers. Duffy (1-0) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and beat Justin Verlander and Detroit 2-1 on a combined two-hitter in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. Duffy was called up from Triple-A Omaha to make his second big league start of the season, and didnt allow a hit until Miguel Cabreras hard-hit, two out single in the sixth. "I was glad that they finally got one, honestly, because I just wanted to pitch," said Duffy, who underwent Tommy John surgery. "I wanted to protect this arm." Manager Ned Yost wasnt about to push his pitcher. "Even if he didnt give up a hit in the sixth, that was probably going to be his last inning anyway, because we had him for 100 pitches (he threw 96)," Yost said. "He didnt have the pitches for the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. "We just wanted five innings out of him and he gave us one more than we expected." Kelvin Herrera replaced Duff in the seventh and retired the side in order. Aaron Crow worked the eighth and surrendered Santiagos pinch-hit home run leading off the inning. Crow got the next three batters. Greg Holland pitched the ninth for his 33rd save. Eric Hosmer homered for the Royals. Ramon Santiago hit a pinch hit home run for the Tigers. "Would have liked to have been able to accomplish two things, win and keep the bullpen fresh," Verlander. "Just didnt happen that way. Felt like I threw the ball well. Just their guys pitched extremely well, which is theyve done all year." He allowed two runs on seven hits in eight innings. He struck out five and didnt walk a batter. Verlander gave up Hosmers 13th home run of the season, leading off the fourth, which gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. The left-handed hitting first baseman drilled Verlanders pitch to the opposite field and into the left-field stands beyond the Tigers bullpen. "Just trying to stay to the middle and not pull off anything," Hosmer said. Verlander said Hosmer took advantage of a hanging curve. "Yeah, it was a hanger. You dont see hanging curveballs hit the opposite field too often though. That was impressive," he said. "It wasnt like it was a question about it getting out. I didnt even watch it. Strong kid." Kansas City made it 2-0 on consecutive doubles leading off the seventh by Justin Maxwell and Bonifacio. Phil Coke and Al Alburquerque pitched the ninth for Detroit, combining to retire the Royals 1-2-3. NOTE: Tigers manager Jim Leyland said it was likely that neither closer Joaquin Benoit nor late-inning reliever Bruce Rondon would be available for either games of Fridays games because of how often theyve been used in the past few games. . Royals manager Ned Yost said third baseman Mike Moustakas, who has been out since leaving Mondays game with a tight calf, would do some work on the field on Friday to assess his progress. . Tigers regular DH Victor Martinez and first baseman Prince Fielder switched places for the first game. Fielder served as the DH and Martinez played first. . Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias, as he squared to attempt a bunt, was hit in the groin area by a Danny Duffy pitch leading off the third inning. Iglesias hobbled toward first base before collapsing in foul territory. He remained in the game after being attended to by trainer Kevin Rand and after he recovered. . The Royals Billy Butler continued his mastery of Verlander. Butler was 2-for-3 to run his career mark against the Tigers star to 27-for-62 (. 435). . The scheduled starters for Fridays night portion of the doubleheader are James Shields (7-8, 3.33) for Kansas City against rookie lefthander Jose Alvarez (1-2, 5.03), who was called up from Triple-A Toledo to make the start in the twin bill. Custom Astros Jerseys . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Cheap Astros Jerseys . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. http://www.customastrosjersey.com/ . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Authentic Custom Astros Jersey . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Custom Jeff Bagwell Jersey . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. The Undefeateds Domonique Foxworth (12 p.m. ET) joins the guys.Text us at 67974 (msg&data rates may apply) or tweet us at @LeBatardShow and @Stugotz790 -- well be with you from 10 a.m. to 1 p.dddddddddddd. ET on ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com and ESPNU. ' ' '