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.Reggie Lewis Celtics Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Robert Williams Celtics Jersey . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-gordon-hayward-celtics-jersey/ . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Dennis Johnson Jersey .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. Robert Williams Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set.Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat sees Saturday nights much-anticipated clash against Sydney FC as an opportunity to burst the A-League leaders bubble.As far as propositions go in the A-League right now, they dont come much more daunting than playing the Sky Blues at Allianz Stadium.Graham Arnolds side is undefeated, three points clear at the top of the table and havent conceded a goal after four rounds.Muscat concedes Victory are the underdogs going into the first Big Blue of the season, but is confident his side travels to Sydney expecting success rather than hoping for it.Were going at the top of the table team who havent conceded a goal, theyre title favourites, FFA Cup favourites - you name it - but we still go there with no fear, Muscat said on Friday.I certainly feel that and the group certainly feels that.Well go across to Sydney where weve done well in terms of performances, certainly in my time.What better way to go there and burst Sydneys bubble?Muscat agreed the ladder doesnt lie as an indicator of form but believes its too early in the season to declare Arnolds side the stand out team in the competition.Theres a lot of factors you need to go into, he said.This is our third trip in (five) rounds and Sydney have left New South Wales once in four rounds.So it will work itself out in time. At this point in time theyve performed very well.Victory are riding high after their 6-1 drubbing of Wellington Phoenix last week that moved them into third spot on the ladder, five points adrift of Sydney.ddddddddddddThe only sour note was the loss of Daniel Georgievski, who is out for up to a month with a broken collarbone.Skipper Carl Valeri and German import Maxi Beister wont travel with the team, with Muscat taking a patient approach as the duo work into peak fitness.Were not in the business of taking risks so early in the season, he said.Carls got through near enough everything but at this point in time I dont see the point.Maxi wont be in the squad either. I just feel that there are players in the team that are ahead of him in terms of fitness at this point in time so we wont put him at risk.Hes improved ... hes been here just over a week now, so its still early. We estimated that it was going to take some time.STATS THAT MATTER:* Melbourne Victory are undefeated in their last nine games against Sydney FC (W4, D5)* Graham Arnold is yet to defeat a Victorian side at home as Sydney manager (D4, L2)* Besart Berisha has scored three goals in Victorys last four games against Sydney, one-third of his teams total in that run* Sydney have five successive clean sheets; no side has ever gone six games without conceding ' ' '
