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Royals burned by late homer in loss to Jays
- Updated: August 6, 2016
KANSAS CITY — Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis picked a perfect time for his first two-homer game in the Majors.
Travis led off the game with his eighth homer, then hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth off closer Royals closer Kelvin Herrera and the Blue Jays held on for a 4-3 win on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Toronto moved a half-game ahead of Baltimore in the American League East, pending the Orioles-White Sox outcome. The plummeting Royals have lost seven of nine and fell a season-worst seven games under .500.
Royals right-hander Dillon Gee turned in his best overall start of the season, going six innings and giving up four hits and three runs. He walked four and struck out two. It was his first quality start in eight tries.
Now walk it out: Patience paid off for the Blue Jays in the third. After Jose Bautista lined out to left, Josh Donaldson worked the count full and then walked after seeing eight pitches from Gee. He was one-upped by Edwin Encarnacion, who saw 10 pitches before drawing a walk. Those quality at-bats set the stage for Saunders, who doubled in a run. Troy Tulowitzki plated another with a groundout to short, as the Blue Jays went up 3-1.
Huge caught stealing: Orlando reached second base in the ninth off closer Joaquin Benoit when Barney committed a two-base error with one out. Orlando tried to steal third, but was thrown out by catcher Russell Martin. Jarrod Dyson followed with a pinch-hit single that likely would have scored Orlando easily with the tying run.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The Blue Jays’ last 15 home runs have been solo shots. They entered the game one back of a club record set in 2000 for longest streak of solo home runs. They eclipsed the previous mark after Travis’ second home run of the game.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW With one out and none on in the ninth, Darwin Barney hit a ground ball toward third base and sprinted to first. After the ball whizzed by the glove of Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, shortstop Alcides Escobar swooped in and made a terrific throw to first to record the out. The play was confirmed after a short review.
WHAT’S NEXTBlue Jays: Right-hander Aaron Sanchez (11-1, 2.71 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday at 7:15 …
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