DeShields, who was recalled Thursday from Triple-A Round Rock, walked and doubled before leading off the seventh with his third home run. DeShields hit a 2-1 pitch from Luke Hochevar out to left.

The loss dropped the Royals to 48-49, the first time the World Series champions have been below .500 since May 15 when they were 18-19. The Royals have lost 13 of 19 games in July.

Left-hander Alex Claudio (2-1) picked up the win, pitching a scoreless sixth.

Hochevar (2-3) took the loss and has allowed six runs in 6 1-3 innings in July.

Rangers relievers Claudio, Keone Kela, Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson held the Royals scoreless the final four innings.

Dyson earned his 20th save in 22 opportunities, but not before allowing two singles and taking Paulo Orlando’s liner off his right shoulder.

After stranding runners at third base in the third, fourth and fifth innings, the Rangers broke through with a clutch hit in the sixth when Mitch Moreland’s two-out single scored Adrian Beltre, who began the inning with a single.

Royals starter Edinson Volquez left after six innings and 91 pitches, allowing one run and seven hits, while walking three and striking out three. It was Volquez’s fifth straight start pitching at least six innings and he has a 2.87 ERA in that span.

There were scouts watching Volquez, who is eligible for free agency after this season and could be traded at the deadline.

Rangers right-hander A.J. Griffin left after allowing four hits in five innings, including Kendrys Morales’ home run in the fourth inning. Morales had three of the Royals’ seven hits.

PEREZ RESTED

C Salvador Perez was not in the Royals lineup for the first time since July 3 with Drew Butera behind the plate with a day game after a night game. Perez is in a 2-for-23 skid with eight strikeouts and no walks over six games.

RETURNING HOME

The Rangers wrapped up a nine-game, 10-day trip Sunday and play their next seven at Globe Life Park. They have played only four home games in the past 28 days from June 27 to July 24.

RANGERS SIGN BRESLOW

Left-hander Craig Breslow, who was released Monday by the Marlins, has signed a minor league contract with the Rangers and assigned to Triple-A Round Rock. Breslow, 35, is 22-29 with a 3.35 ERA in 539 games in the majors with San Diego, Boston, Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland, Arizona and Miami.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: General manager Jon Daniels said he anticipates LHP Derek Holland and RHP Colby Lewis will return to the rotation on Aug. 20 and 21, the dates they are eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list.

Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain (left hamstring strain) ran before the game. “He’s making progress,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’ll evaluate it tomorrow.”

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Martin Perez, who has lost his past three starts, will start against the Athletics at Arlington.

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy, who starts the series opener against the Angels, allowed four home runs in a Wednesday loss to the Indians and is tied with teammate Chris Young in allowing a major league-high 26 homers.

Hamels, who is 6-1 with a 2.24 ERA in his past nine starts, limited the Royals to five hits, struck out four and walked three. Hamels (11-2) lowered his ERA to 2.87, which is tied for third in the American League.

The Rangers picked up only their fifth victory in 20 games.

Mazara homered in the fourth with Jurickson Profar, who had walked, aboard, which was the first hit off Royals starter Yordano Ventura. Mazara, who tops all American League rookies with 25 games with multiple hits and 141 total bases, doubled to center in the fifth, scoring Delino DeShields.

Beltre, a career .363 hitter at Kauffman Stadium, hit a three-run homer in the Rangers’ four-run seventh off Joakim Soria. Ian Desmond singled in the first run of the inning. Soria has allowed six runs in his past two outings and has a 9.72 ERA in his past nine relief appearances.

Ventura was struck in the right rib cage by a Beltre laser to end the fifth. After Ventura threw to first base, he collapsed to the ground in pain and was attended to by trainer Nick Kenney. X-rays were negative, but Ventura did not come out for the sixth. Ventura (6-8) gave up three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out five.

Cheslor Cuthbert doubled with one out in the first, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games and took third on Mazara’s fielding error. Cuthbert scored on Eric Hosmer’s groundout for the only run off Hamels.

The Royals scored three runs in the ninth on four singles and a bases-loaded walk before Salvador Perez grounded into a double play to end the game.

RANGERS ADD DUFFY

The Rangers claimed 1B Matt Duffy off waivers from the Astros and assigned him to their Triple-A Round Rock club. Duffy, 27, hit .294 with 20 home runs, 29 doubles and 104 RBIs last season with Fresno in the Pacific Coast League. He was hitless in three at-bats this season with Houston.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: LHP Derek Holland, who is on the 60-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation, threw his first bullpen session, 25 pitches, since going on the DL. If he has no setbacks, Holland could begin a minor league rehab assignment in early August.

Royals: LHP Mike Minor, who had labrum surgery in 2015, threw a simulated game but has yet to pitch in a big league game this season.

UP NEXT

Rangers: RHP A.J. Griffin will be working on five days’ rest Sunday after a no-decision Monday at the Angels.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez is 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers, his first club.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy scattered four hits while pitching into the seventh inning, the Royals scratched out three runs off the Rangers’ Yu Darvish, and Kansas City beat Texas 3-1 on Friday night to open their three-game series.

The only run Duffy (6-1) allowed came on Rougned Odor’s homer in the fourth inning. The left-hander struck out four and walked two on a steamy evening where the heat index at first pitch was 108 degrees.

Luke Hochevar wiggled out of Duffy’s jam to end the seventh, Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect eighth and Wade Davis worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his 21st save.

The victory, one day after the Royals (48-47) visited the White House to celebrate their World Series title, kept them from dropping below .500 for the first time since beating Boston on May 17.

Darvish (2-2) nearly matched Duffy in his third start off the disabled list. He allowed single runs in each of the first three innings, struck out 11 and made only one big mistake — Cheslor Cuthbert’s home run.

Still, it wasn’t good enough to keep the AL West-leading Rangers from losing for the eighth time in nine games. The slide has been marked by poor pitching, inconsistent hitting and a series of devastating injuries — sluggers Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo went on the DL earlier this week.

Without them, the Rangers certainly struggled to create scoring chances Friday night.

Duffy carved through the lineup without allowing a hit the first time through, the only baserunner a walk to Elvis Andrus. He went on to load the bases on a single and hit batter in the third inning, but Duffy calmly struck out Ian Desmond on three pitches to leave them stranded.

His only other trouble came when he put runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh, forcing Hochevar in from the bullpen. He got pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland on a liner to preserve a 3-1 lead.

They built it in typical Royals fashion: They scored a run in the first on a single, stolen base, error and groundout then scored again in the second on a walk, stolen base and consecutive singles.

It wasn’t until Cuthbert went deep leading off the third that they made Darvish look fallible.

ROSTER MOVES

The Rangers reinstated LHP Jake Diekman (cut left index finger) from the DL and designated LHP Cesar Ramos for assignment. Diekman last pitched July 5 at Boston.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: Fielder will see neck specialist Dr. Drew Dossett on Monday. The DH/1B is facing the prospect of season-ending neck surgery after an MRI earlier this week revealed a herniated disk near an area that was repaired two years ago. Dossett also performed that procedure.

Royals: CF Lorenzo Cain (left hamstring strain) hoped to begin a rehab assignment this weekend, but it has been pushed back to early next week. He’s been on the DL since June 29. “He was pushing it too hard two days ago and just kind of fatigued his leg,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Not a setback by any stretch.”

UP NEXT

Rangers LHP Cole Hamels, who tossed eight sharp innings in a win over the Cubs his last time out, makes his first career start at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday. He faces Royals RHP Yordano Ventura.