SAN DIEGO _ His relief corps depleted, his bullpen running on fumes, Royals manager Ned Yost sank into a leather chair inside a clubhouse office Sunday and cycled through the names of his available relievers.
There was no Joakim Soria, Mike Minor or Peter Moylan, Yost said. Each was out after extended use. Closer Kelvin Herrera and Matt Strahm were questionable for the same reason. Two days earlier, rookie Eric Skoglund had lasted 1 1/3 innings against the San Diego Padres, exacerbating the issue. On Sunday, the bill came due. Rookie Jake Junis would take the ball for his third career start. Yost was just hopeful for innings.
Junis offered that, and more, in an 8-3 victory over the Padres inside Petco Park. As the Royals secured a series victory and blasted four homers, including two from Mike Moustakas, Junis lasted seven-plus innings, allowing three runs and striking out six.
Junis, who opened the eighth inning at 96 pitches before allowing his third solo homer, became the first Royals rookie starter to log seven-plus innings since Yordano Ventura in 2014. By the end, he had earned his first career win as a starting pitcher.
The Royals' offense provided comfort from the start, putting up four runs in the first and crushing three homers against Padres starter Dinelson Lamet. Moustakas delivered a three-run blast with two outs in the first and added a solo shot in the ninth, finishing the day with 17 homers. Alex Gordon ambushed a fastball in the fourth, raking a solo homer to right field. Eric Hosmer maintained his torrid production inside Petco Park, drilling a two-run homer to right field in the fifth.
Hosmer's booming shot came one day after he clubbed a game-tying homer in the eighth inning in a 12-6 victory. In 11 games here in San Diego, including the World Baseball Classic and the 2016 All-Star Game, Hosmer has hit five homers.
As a team, the Royals (28-34) finished the weekend with 10 homers, including nine in victories on Saturday and Sunday. Facing the rebuilding Padres, a three-game sweep here at Petco would have been preferable. But the Royals can carry a series victory into the rest of a nine-game road trip. The club will enjoy a day off in San Francisco on Monday before opening a two-game set against the Giants. It will conclude the stretch with a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.
Sunday afternoon offered a matchup between two starting pitchers with fewer than five career starts. Lamet, a 6-foot-4, 187-pound right-hander with a blazing fastball, had allowed three earned runs across 10 innings in his first two starts. On Sunday, the Royals surpassed that mark in the top of the first.
Hosmer scored Lorenzo Cain on a two-out single. Salvador Perez followed with a single to left before leaving the game later with tightness in his left side. (The Royals did not view the ailment as serious). Moments later, Moustakas launched a three-run homer that landed in the section beyond right field.
From there, the Royals remained in control.
