KANSAS CITY -- Right after coming off the injured list because of a strained hamstring, Royals left-hander Danny Duffy had two quality starts.

But with all respect to the Orioles and Marlins, those starts were not nearly as impressive as Duffy’s was against the Astros, who are tied with the Dodgers for MLB’s second-best record, at Kauffman Stadium on Friday night.

Duffy held the potent Astros to just one run and four hits through six innings in the Royals’ 4-1 loss. George Springer’s three-run homer off reliever Heath Fillmyer with two out in the ninth provided the winning margin.

• Box score

“It was one of those nights where Danny really had to grind,” manager Ned Yost said. “His command was off [early], but for him to face a tough lineup like they have and to pitch six innings and only give up one run was a phenomenal job.”

Duffy’s lone mistake was a two-seamer to Jose Altuve in the first inning -- Altuve belted it into the left-field seats for his 28th home run. Duffy walked two and struck out six.

“It was just a typical grind-through-it night,” Duffy said. “I’ve had two of those starts in a row. I was able to give my team 18 outs. I left everything out there.”

Using perhaps his best changeup of the season, Duffy kept the Astros off balance, at one point retiring 10 of 11, including four strikeouts. He threw 21 changeups of his 108 total pitches, and he got four swinging strikes and three called strikes along with two fouls and two harmless flyouts.

In the fifth, when Duffy struck out the side, he got Springer swinging on a changeup and Altuve on a called third strike on a changeup.

“We’ve been working really hard on that,” Duffy said. “I moved to the gloveside of the mound, and it gives it more real estate to work. I feel like I’ve found a slot I’m comfortable with.

“The changeup definitely passed the eye test today.”

Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole was even tougher. He breezed through seven innings, giving up just three hits. He finished with 11 strikeouts in winning a club record 13th straight decision.

The Royals nicked Cole for a run in the eighth when Bubba Starling reached on a shattered-bat single to left, stole second and went to third on a throwing error. He scored on Meibrys Viloria’s sacrifice fly to center.

“He's everything that’s advertised,” Yost said of Cole. “I asked [Whit Merrifield] if his slider was that good because we had so many checked swings on sliders. Whit said that the fastball is that good. I mean, it's at 98 miles an hour. You've got to respect the fastball. You can see the spin on the slider, but it's just you know, you gotta respect the fastball. So you're geared for the fastball.”

Gordon, Yost ejected

Royals outfielder Alex Gordon was ejected for just the second time in his career -- the other one came in 2011. Gordon was called out on strikes in the seventh and he was tossed shortly thereafter.

What did Gordon say to home-plate umpire Lance Barrett?

“I don’t know,” Gordon said. “I said something in the dugout after the inning. It wasn’t much. I didn’t cuss at him. I just said one thing and he threw me out. I didn’t think I should have been thrown out, but I probably shouldn’t have said what I said. It was just the way the game was going.”

Yost came out after Gordon’s ejection between innings to have a chat with Barrett, who eventually tossed Yost.

“He told me he didn't want to discuss balls and strikes,” Yost said, “and I told him I don't really blame him, I wouldn't want to either if I was having his type of night. But it’s just one of those things. You know I like Lance Barrett and I think he's a good umpire. I just think he had a rough night.”