After seeing their nine game winning streak come to an end with two straight losses to the Kansas City Royals, the Toronto Blue Jays got back on track with a 12-2 victory on Saturday.
The Blue Jays jumped on the Royals early scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. Shortstop Jose Reyes scored the first run on a double off the bat of right fielder Joes Bautista. A walk to designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion loaded the bases. A single and a hit by pitch brought the score to 3-0. Third baseman Juan Francisco belted a ground rule double to score two runs. After a walk and a double play, the top of the order got up again. Reyes and left fielder Melky Cabrera each hit RBI singles.
Kansas City starter Aaron Brooks was removed from the game after 2/3 inning. He was charged with all seven runs and saw his earned run average (ERA) increase to 43.88.
Both teams scored one run in the second inning. Toronto manufactured another rally in the fourth inning that produced three more runs. The Royals got their second run in the top of the seventh inning. The Blue Jays scored their 12th run in the eighth when Francisco delivered an RBI double.
Toronto starter Marcus Stroman made his first career start, going six innings, giving up one run, on five hits and striking out six, reports ESPN.
“I thought he was terrific,” manager John Gibbons said in his postgame press conference on mlb.com. “He got a bunch of strikeouts, attacking the zone, working fast, doing all those things that you expected. That was his first start of the year and we were pretty impressed.”
The two teams will play the final game of their four-game series on Sunday. Toronto’s Mark Buehrle looks to become the first pitcher this year to win 10 games.