The Toronto Blue Jays thumped the Kansas City Royals 11-8 on Monday night, taking Game 3 of the ALCS and cutting the Royals’ lead in the series to 2-1.
Kansas City actually put the first run of the game on the board in the first inning. Alcides Escobar tripled to left on a ball misplayed by Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista, and came home on a Ben Zobrist ground out.
Johnny Cueto labored for the Royals in the first but escaped unscathed, and Marcus Stroman allowed two hits in the second before getting out of the inning without giving up any runs. In the bottom of the second, the Jays offense woke up. Troy Tulowitzki singled with one out, and Cueto followed that up by plunking Russell Martin. Kevin Pillar moved Tulowitzki to third on a fielder’s choice, and eliminated the force out by stealing second. Ryan Goins then followed up with a single to bring in Tulowitzki and Pillar and, after a Ben Revere walk, Josh Donaldson singled in Goins to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.
The Royals got a run back in the third, but should have gotten more. Zobrist doubled with one out, and Lorenzo Cain reached on an infield single. Eric Hosmer brought Zobrist in on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-2, and Kendrys Morales singled to put the tying run on second. But Mike Moustakas flied out to end the inning, and the Royals saw an opportunity go by the wayside.
In the third, the Blue Jays offense exploded. Cueto allowed a single to Edwin Encarnacion to lead off the inning, walked Chris Colabello, and gave up a three-run dinger to Tulowitzki to to make it 6-2. He then walked Russell Martin and allowed an RBI double to Pillar, extending Toronto’s lead to 7-2 and ending Cueto’s night.
Kris Medlen replaced Cueto, and quickly retired Goins and Revere. Then Donaldson stepped in and launched a mammoth two-run homer, upping the lead to 9-2.
The game then settled in a bit. Each team sent the minimum up in the fourth. In the fifth, the Royals put the first two men of the inning on thanks to an Escobar single and Zobrist double, and both men scored thanks to a wild pitch and a Moustakas single. But with the game at 9-4 and men on the corners, Sal Perez grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the frame. But the Jays would answer again, this time thanks to a homer from an unlikely source – Goins, who has just eight homers in 229 career games.
Each team sent four men to the plate in the sixth without scoring, and in the seventh, a one-out single by Hosmer ended Stroman’s night after 6 1/3 turbulent innings. But Aaron Sanchez got out of the seventh without allowing any runs, and Mark Lowe set the Royals down in order in the eighth – though Tulowitzki was ejected to start the frame by home plate umpire John Hirschbeck for arguing because of a call during his at bat in the prior inning.
Kansas City put a late rally together that fell short. Liam Hendriks came in for mop-up duty and was simply not effective. Escobar led off with an infield single, and Zobrist followed with his third double of the night. A sac fly by Cain made it 11-5, and a single by Hosmer cut the lead to 11-6. Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna replaced Hendriks, and immediately allowed a long two-run homer to Morales, slicing the lead to 11-8. But Osuna retired Moustakas and Perez to end the threat, and give the Jays the victory.
LCS Coverage
Cueto had another ghastly start. He recorded just six outs on the night, giving up eight runs on six hits, walking four and striking out two. He would be lined up to start a potential Game 7 for the Royals, which may make some Kansas City fans nervous. If the series does make it to seven, Stroman would once again be his opponent. He wasn’t sharp on Monday night, allowing four runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out one, but a win is a win.
Offensively, every Blue Jays starter reached base, and seven of them recorded hits. Donaldson went 2/4 with a walk and three RBI, Tulowitzki went 2/4 with two runs and three RBI, and Goins (of course) went 2/4 with two runs and three RBI. The Royals also did some damage with their bats, as seven of *their* starters also recorded hits. Escobar went 4/5 with three runs, while Zobrist went 3/5 with three runs and three doubles.
Game 4 will take place at 4 PM on Tuesday. RA Dickey will look to even up the series for the Blue Jays, while the Royals counter with Chris Young.
