Eflin (9-3) picked up the win Friday, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings in an 11-3 victory over the Royals. He struck out seven.
The damage came on early homers by Nick Pratto and Salvador Perez (hamstring), but Eflin settled down while the Tampa Bay offense got rolling. The quality start was his sixth in his last seven trips to the mound, a stretch in which the right-hander sports a 3.32 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 40:10 K:BB through 43.1 innings. Eflin will look to stay sharp in his next outing, likely to come next week in Arizona.