KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals kept waiting for Blue Jays ace David Price to give them some hope. It turned out Toronto’s leaky defense provided it.
After managing one hit over six innings, Ben Zobrist’s easy fly that somehow fell for a hit began a five-run rally against Price in the seventh Saturday. The Royals rolled the rest of the way to a 6-3 win over Toronto and a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series.
GAME 3
WHO: Blue Jays (Cueto 11-13) at Royals (Stroman 4-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday
SERIES: Royals lead 2-0
TV: FoxSports1
“We needed to catch a break,” Alex Gordon of the Royals said, “and Zobrist’s ball was it.”
Luke Hochevar wiggled out of a jam to keep Kansas City in the game, and Danny Duffy and Kelvin Herrera got the ball to closer Wade Davis, who survived a shaky ninth.
Davis gave up a leadoff single and walked pinch-hitter Cliff Pennington, but stuck out leadoff man Ben Revere and MVP candidate Josh Donaldson. Jose Bautista then flied to right to give Davis his third postseason save and the Royals another postseason comeback win.
“Our guys never quit,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said. “They keep going.”
Even though they looked foolish flailing at Price’s pitches – until the lazy fly ball by Zobrist changed everything. They proceeded to string together four singles and a double in their go-ahead inning, getting run-producing hits from Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Rios, along with an RBI groundout from Kendrys Morales.
It was a monumental collapse for Price, who at one point recorded 18 straight outs. He fell to 0-7 in seven postseason starts, including a loss to Texas in the AL division series.
“I gave up hits at the wrong time,” he said. “I felt good. It’s a very scrappy team. They put the ball in play. They continued to battle. It’s just a tough loss.”
The Royals have won nine straight ALCS games dating to their seven-game series against Toronto in 1985 – the year they won their only World Series. The record is 10 straight wins set by Baltimore in the 1960s and ’70s.
Now the Blue Jays head home for Game 3 on Monday night. All but three of the previous 25 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven era have won the series.
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