ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Danny Duffy has been the best thing going for the Kansas City Royals for the past month, but never more so than Monday night.

The left-hander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and struck out a franchise-record 16 batters in Kansas City's 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Duffy (7-1) got within six outs of the Royals' first no-hitter in nearly 25 years, but Desmond Jennings led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to left field.

His 16 strikeouts broke the record of 15 set by Zack Greinke in 2009 against Cleveland, and also set a Tropicana Field record.

"He was electric tonight," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He had everything going. Seven innings of no-hit baseball and eight innings, 16 punchouts, one walk, that's pretty special."

Rays starter Chris Archer (5-15) matched Duffy's scoreless showing until the seventh, when Kendrys Morales hit a solo home run, his 17th on the season, with one out.

Alcides Escobar came through with an RBI single to left in the eighth to extend the lead to 2-0, with Duffy six outs away from a no-hitter.

The Rays (42-62) saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, hours after dealing away three players prior to Monday's non-waiver trade deadline.

The Royals (50-55) ended their own four-game losing streak, winning for the sixth straight time when Duffy pitches.

Duffy's 16 strikeouts were a Royals season high by five -- Ian Kennedy had 11 for the previous high -- and four more than any opponent has thrown against the Rays this season.

"Few and far between times, somebody has all of their pitches working, so it was good," Duffy said.

Duffy was asked if there was disappointment after giving up the hit in the eighth, and he was blunt in saying there wasn't, with his focus squarely on just winning.

"I saw a zero up there, but I'm not pitching to that. I never will," he said.

Archer took his major-league-leading 15th loss despite holding Kansas City to three runs on six hits. The Rays were playing with only 23 players -- just a two-man bench -- due to three trades made before the game.

Archer left after Escobar's RBI single in the eighth, and reliever Kevin Jepsen let the inherited runner score, giving up a single to Cheslor Cuthbert and a sacrifice fly to Lorenzo Cain for a 3-0 lead.

"I thought Arch was really good again," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Just unfortunate we couldn't get anything going to get some runs for him."

Duffy left after allowing one hit in eight scoreless innings and 110 pitches, with Kelvin Herrera pitching the ninth for his second save.

The Royals' last no-hitter came nearly 25 years ago, when Bret Saberhagen no-hit the White Sox on August 26, 1991.

The Rays have been no-hit five times, most recently by Seattle's Felix Hernandez in 2012, and only once at Tropicana Field, by Arizona's Edwin Jackson in 2010.

Duffy's only blemish in the first seven innings was a fourth-inning walk to Logan Forsythe, who made it to third after a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, but was stranded there when Steven Souza struck out to end the inning.

Kansas City had chances earlier against Archer -- Paulo Orlando got a double off the second baseman's glove in the third and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, but Archer got Escobar to ground out to end the inning.

Cuthbert got a leadoff single in the fourth, but the Rays got out of the inning with a double play off the bat of Eric Hosmer.

In the fifth, Morales had a leadoff single, but Archer retired the next three in order to keep the shutout intact. Same in the sixth, when Raul Mondesi reached on a strikeout and wild pitch, took second on a sacrifice bunt, but Archer again got an inning-ending double play off the bat of Cuthbert.

NOTES: The Rays played Monday's game with only 23 players, unable to make moves to replace two of the three players they traded just before the 4 p.m. trade deadline. In separate deals, the Rays dealt utilityman Steve Pearce to the Orioles, LHP Matt Moore to the Giants, and OF Brandon Guyer to the Indians, getting six players back. The only immediate help will be former Giants 3B Matt Duffy, who is expected to become the Rays' every-day shortstop once he's recovered from an Achilles' injury. That will shift current SS Brad Miller to either first base or the outfield. To replace Guyer on the roster, the Rays activated OF Desmond Jennings from the disabled list, where he'd been since June with a hamstring strain. Jennings, who had a .202 batting average before the injury, was in the starting lineup Monday, playing in left field and batting fifth. ... With Moore gone to San Francisco, RHP Matt Andriese will return to the starting rotation, beginning with Tuesday'sgame against the Royals. He's split the season between starting and relieving with a 2.75 ERA in 18 total appearances. ... The Royals made no moves at the trade deadline, having made one roster move Sunday, putting RHP Wade Davis on the disabled list with a flexor strain and recalling LHP Matt Strahm from Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Strahm made his major league debut Sunday, giving up one hit and one run in one-third of an inning in a loss to the Rangers for a 27.00 ERA.