Blue Jays lose lead, trail Royals 0-2 in ALCS
- 9 years ago
The Kansas City Royals, denied by David Price for six innings, rallied for five runs in the seventh to stun the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 Saturday and take a commanding 2-0 lead in their American League Championship series.
It was a remarkable turnaround to a game that Toronto seemed to have well in command with Price retiring a franchise post-season record 18 in a row after seeing his first pitch slammed into right for a single by Alcides Escobar.
Then the worm turned.
Staked to a 3-0 lead by one run in the third and two in the sixth, Price was cruising until a seventh-inning fielding miscue ended his streak of outs and opened the door for the Royals, who took advantage by sending nine to the plate.
A miscommunication between Jose Bautista and Ryan Goins on a leadoff popup allowed Ben Zobrist to reach first as the ball dropped to the right-field turf between the two Jays, who looked at each other as if to say 'What just happened?"
"I just thought I heard an 'I got it,' but it was nothing," Goins said. "I should have gone in more aggressively."
"It turned out to be a huge play and they did a good job of rallying," he added. "That was kind of the turning point in the game."
Lorenzo Cain singled to put men on first and second, extending his post-season hitting streak to 11 games to tie the Royals' record. Eric Hosmer then singled in Zobrist and Cain scored on a Kendrys Morales' groundout. Mike Moustakas' single made it 3-3 bringing the sellout crowd of 40,357 to its feet.
One out later, Alex Gordon doubled home Moustakas to take the lead. That chased Price but the scoreboard kept turning with Alex Rios' RBI single off reliever Aaron Sanchez.
Price threw 66 pitches over the first six innings, then 30 in 2/3 of the seventh. He gave up five runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in a 96-pitch outing that included 70 strikes.
Tough loss
"It's a very scrappy team," Price said. "They put the ball in play, they continue to battle, and that was a tough lo
It was a remarkable turnaround to a game that Toronto seemed to have well in command with Price retiring a franchise post-season record 18 in a row after seeing his first pitch slammed into right for a single by Alcides Escobar.
Then the worm turned.
Staked to a 3-0 lead by one run in the third and two in the sixth, Price was cruising until a seventh-inning fielding miscue ended his streak of outs and opened the door for the Royals, who took advantage by sending nine to the plate.
A miscommunication between Jose Bautista and Ryan Goins on a leadoff popup allowed Ben Zobrist to reach first as the ball dropped to the right-field turf between the two Jays, who looked at each other as if to say 'What just happened?"
"I just thought I heard an 'I got it,' but it was nothing," Goins said. "I should have gone in more aggressively."
"It turned out to be a huge play and they did a good job of rallying," he added. "That was kind of the turning point in the game."
Lorenzo Cain singled to put men on first and second, extending his post-season hitting streak to 11 games to tie the Royals' record. Eric Hosmer then singled in Zobrist and Cain scored on a Kendrys Morales' groundout. Mike Moustakas' single made it 3-3 bringing the sellout crowd of 40,357 to its feet.
One out later, Alex Gordon doubled home Moustakas to take the lead. That chased Price but the scoreboard kept turning with Alex Rios' RBI single off reliever Aaron Sanchez.
Price threw 66 pitches over the first six innings, then 30 in 2/3 of the seventh. He gave up five runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in a 96-pitch outing that included 70 strikes.
Tough loss
"It's a very scrappy team," Price said. "They put the ball in play, they continue to battle, and that was a tough lo