BALTIMORE -- It got awfully loud very quickly at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday, as the Royals bashed four home runs and scored 10 runs in the first inning on their way to a 15-7 blowout win over the Orioles.
Jorge Soler, Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez went back-to-back-to-back in the inning, the first time the Royals have done that since July 23. Two batters later, Alex Gordon belted a three-run home run to make it 7-0, chasing Orioles starter Dylan Bundy before he recorded an out.
Moustakas had another hit in the inning, a two-run single, and in the fifth inning, he ripped his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to deep center field. That gave Moustakas five RBIs, the most he's had in a game since he had nine against the Orioles here on Sept. 12, 2015.

The four first-inning home runs tied a Major League mark last reached by these same Orioles, on Aug. 19, 2016, against the Astros. In all, the Royals sent 15 hitters to the plate in the inning.
"It was awesome, a lot of fun," Moustakas said. "Once we got back around the order to the top of the order … I don't think I've ever been around something like that before."

The last time the Royals scored 10 runs in the first inning was in 2006, against Cleveland. Amazingly, KC lost that game, 15-13, in 10 innings.
The Royals had no such concerns this time as they continued to pour it on, collecting season highs in hits (20) and runs.
Gordon had his first four-hit game since 2015 and raised his average to .321, its highest point since June 2, 2013. Gordon said that some subtle mechanical adjustments have helped him get back on track.

"I'm trying to keep my bat in the zone longer," Gordon said. "I feel like my swing was kind of in and up, so I was trying to work on my hand path, just keeping my bat in the zone longer … if you have bad mechanics, your approach is not going to work. It's a combination of things."
Left-hander Danny Duffy was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst. He went 5 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and one run, striking out five, to earn his first win of the season.

Asked what he thought about getting staked to a 10-0 lead, Duffy said, "Don't screw it up. That's it. Just wanted to make to stay in the same mindset, stay in attack mode."
SOUND SMART
The four first-inning Royals home runs went a combined projected distance of 1,625 feet, per Statcast™. Soler's was the longest, at 420 feet.

HE SAID IT
"It has been a lot of fun to watch. He scalded a lot of balls last year right at people. I think he's got a lot of good karma built up. He's been raking the ball, seeing the ball really well. He's somebody I would never doubt and no one on this team would. He's our leader." -- Duffy, on the amazing offensive turnaround by Gordon
UP NEXT
Left-hander Eric Skoglund (1-2, 6.84 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals in Game 2 of the series in Baltimore at 6:05 p.m. CT. Right-hander Andrew Cashner (1-4, 4.89 ERA) will pitch for the Orioles. Skoglund gave up five runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings in his last start Thursday against the Tigers.