Royals rally late to beat Blue Jays 6-3, take 2-0 ALCS lead

David Price was a freight train that couldn’t be stopped through the first six innings of Saturday’s ALCS Game 2. After allowing a single to Alcides Escobar to lead off the game, Price didn’t allow a baserunner over the next six innings. 18 Royals came to the plate after Escobar’s single, and all 18 of them went back to the Kansas City dugout with a frown on their face.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays offense was making some noise against Yordano Ventura. In the third, Kevin Pillar and Ryan Goins hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead.

In the sixth, Josh Donaldson reached on an infield single after a pop-up hit a wire before Sal Perez caught it (causing the ball to be declared dead), and Ventura followed that up by walking Jose Bautista. Edwin Encarnacion followed the walk up with a single under the glove of Escobar to make it 2-0, and two batters later, Troy Tulowitzki doubled in Bautista to increase the lead to 3-0. Luke Hochevar relieved Ventura, and got out of the inning without allowing any more damage.

After another 1-2-3 inning from Price and a 1-2-3 seventh courtesy of Danny Duffy, the wheels came off for the Jays and Price. Ben Zobrist started the inning by hitting a pop-up into shallow left that fell between Goins and Bautista, despite Goins seemingly calling for the ball. Lorenzo Cain followed up with a single, and John Gibbons still sat on his hands in the dugout. Eric Hosmer singled in Zobrist, and Aaron Sanchez began to get loose. Kendrys Morales hit what could have been a double play grounder to short, but Goins jumped in front of Tulowitzki and didn’t cover second, resulting in Cain scoring, Hosmer advancing to second safely, and Morales getting thrown out at first.

Mike Moustakas followed up with a single to tie the game at three…and Price was still on the mound. He struck out Perez for the second out, but then allowed a double to Alex Gordon, putting Kansas City in front 4-3. The hook finally came for Price as Sanchez replaced him…and allowed an RBI single to Alex Rios, increasing the lead to 5-3.

In the eighth, Kansas City made it 5-3 after Aaron Loup walked Hosmer, walked Morales, and allowed a single to Moustakas. The Jays threatened in the ninth against Wade Davis, with Pillar singling and Cliff Pennington walking to lead off the inning. But Davis struck out Ben Revere, struck out Donaldson, and forced Bautista to fly out to end the game, putting the Jays in a 2-0 hole heading back to Rogers Centre.

Price earned the loss once again despite being brilliant for six innings, finishing his night by allowing five runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight without a walk. Toronto’s offense was once again the story – they went a ghastly 3/16 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners. Kansas City’s bullpen allowed two hits and walked one over 3 2/3 shutout innings, punching out five along the way. Gee, it’s almost as if turning the end of the game over to the bullpen is a great strategy instead of letting your starter carry you to the finish line. John Gibbons, take notes.

Game 3 will take place in Toronto on Monday night. Marcus Stroman takes the hill in a critical game for the Blue Jays, while the Royals will counter with Johnny Cueto.