American League Championship Series
Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays
The Royals and the Blue Jays met for Game 3 of the ALCS in Toronto. The Royals took the first two games in Kansas City and the Blue Jays are feeling the pressure. The Royals sent ALDS hero Johnny Cueto to face Marcus Stroman of the Blue Jays.
Alcides Escobar led off the game with a triple past Jose Bautista in right field. Ben Zobrist drove in Escobar with a groundout to second. Kevin Pillar made a great running catch as he crashed into the wall in dead center field to rob Lorenzo Cain of extra bases, and Eric Hosmer grounded out to second to end the inning.
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Cueto had set down the last 19 hitters in Game 5 of the ALDS, and he continued with the first two of this game, getting Ben Revere to fly out to center and Josh Donaldson on strikes before walking Bautista. Cueto came back and struck out Edwin Encarnacion to strand Bautista at first.
Kendrys Morales led off the second with a ground ball up the middle. Mike Moustakas flew out to center for the first out, bringing up Salvador Perez. Perez chopped into a force out, with Morales out at second. Alex Gordon ripped a single under the glove of first baseman Chris Colabello, advancing Perez to third. Alex Rios flew out to center to end the threat.
Troy Tulowitzki got the first Blue Jay hit with a one-out line drive to left field. Russell Martin was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with just one out. Pillar grounded into a fielder’s choice, forcing Martin out at second. The Blue Jays still had runners on first and third with two outs and Ryan Goins at the plate. Pillar stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Goins delivered with a single to left that drove in both runners and gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Goins went to second on the throw to the plate. Ben Revere worked a walk, and the Blue Jays had runners on first and second again. Donaldson ripped a ground ball just out of the reach of Moustakas to drive in Goins and the Blue Jays still had runners at first and second. Bautista flew out to right field, and Cueto was finally out of the second inning with the Blue Jays leading 3-1.
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Zobrist hit the ball over Pillar’s head for a one-out double. Cain hit a ground ball up the middle, but Tulowitzki made a great stop to keep Zobrist from scoring. The Royals had runners on first and third with one out. Hosmer chopped it to first and Colabello threw it to Tulowitzki at second, but they Blue Jays were not able to complete a double play and Zobrist scored. Morales followed that with a ground ball up the middle. Moustakas popped it up to Goins to end the inning.
Encarnacion led off the bottom of the third with a ground ball through the shift for a single. Colabello drew a four-pitch walk to bring up Tulowitzki with two on and nobody out. Tulo responded with a 3-run home run to dead center field to give the Blue Jays a 6-2 lead. Martin drew a walk and brought up Pillar, who doubled to score Martin. That would end Cueto’s night, as Ned Yost brought in Kris Medlen with a runner on second, nobody out, and Goins coming up.
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Medlen came in and struck out Goins for the first out of the inning. Revere chopped out to third base, and Pillar had to hold at second base with two outs. Donaldson made sure that Pillar would not be stranded, hitting one into the upper deck in left field to give the Blue Jays a 9-2 lead. Medlen finally got Bautista out on strikes to end the inning. The Blue Jays scored six runs in the inning and had a solid lead after three innings.
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Encarnacion led off the bottom of the fourth with a very similar ground ball through the shift as the one he hit in the third inning. Colabello hit into a routine 4-6-3 double play, though, to erase the base runner. Medlen struck out Tulowitzki to end the inning.
Escobar led off the fifth inning with a single to center field. Zobrist hit a double just out of Bautista’s reach, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. Cain hit a fly ball to right, but with Bautista’s arm, Escobar did not attempt to score on the play. A wild pitch allowed Escobar to score and Zobrist to move over to third. Hosmer struck out, leaving the runner at third with two outs. Morales worked a walk on a full count to put runners on the corners for Moustakas. Moustakas hit a line drive to right center field to score Zobrist and move Morales to third. Perez grounded into a force out to end the inning, but the Royals got two runs to bring the score to 9-4.
Just as it seemed that the Royals would get out of the fifth inning unscathed, Goins crushed a two-out home run for the 10th run of the game for the Jays. Medlen got Revere to pop out to short to end the inning with the Blue Jays winning 10-4.
Tulowitzki was ejected as he came out to warm up in the top of the eighth inning. He was arguing with crew chief John Hirschbeck about some low strike calls in the previous inning, and Hirschbeck had heard enough and tossed Tulo. Goins moved over to shortstop and Cliff Pennington came in to play second. Also, Justin Smoak came in to replace Colabello at first.
Reveree hit a one-out single in the eighth inning, and that was followed by a walk to Donaldson to put runners at first and second. Bautista hit a single to right that scored Revere to extend the lead. The inning ended with a strikeout of Encarnacion and a great play in right field by Rios on a fly ball down the line by Smoak.
Escobar led off the top of the ninth with an infield hit. Zobrist hit a scorcher down the first base line under Smoak’s glove for a double to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Cain hit one that drove Bautista to the track and advanced both runners, scoring Escobar. Hosmer hit one up the middle to drive in Zobrist, pulling the Royals to within 11-6.
The Blue Jays brought in closer Roberto Osuna to try to get the last two outs. Morales greeted Osuna with a long home run to the upper deck in right center field to make it 11-8. Osuna got Moustakas and Perez to ground out to end the game and the Blue Jays got their first win of the series.
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Player of the Game: Troy Tulowitzki
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Tulowitzki had two hits in four at-bats, with a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored. He got the Blue Jays’ first hit, and he hit a key three-run home run to open up a 6-2 lead.
Game 4 (Royals lead 2-1)
Game 4 will be played on Tuesday at 4 pm at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Chris Young of the Royals will go up against R.A. Dickey of the Blue Jays. Young pitched in Game 1 of the ALDS, giving up one run over four innings. Dickey only pitched in four and two-thirds innings in Game 4 of the ALDS against the Rangers, but he only allowed one run.