It’s a combination that is all theirs and has managed to put them three victories from their second consecutive World Series appearance after they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 on Friday in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. The challenge will be facing the Royals’ bullpen, but the Blue Jays feast on fastballs, so they might have the edge there as well.
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Staked to a 3-0 lead, Volquez only ran into trouble once – in the sixth – when he walked the first two batters and found himself facing the heart of the Blue Jays’ order.
The Royals were down by four runs to the Astros in game four on Monday entering the eighth inning.
“I’m sure many Canadians will be watching the baseball game after they’ve had an opportunity to go to the polls”, said Kory Teneycke.
There was more bad news for the Jays when designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion couldn’t finish the game after reinjuring his hand during an earlier at-bat.
The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays promise plenty of fireworks in their AL Championship Series, and not just because one team features power arms and the other power bats.
Volquez breezed through the first five frames, but needed 27 pitches to get through the sixth. Again, Troy Tulowitzki worked the count full before looking at a 95 mile per hour sinker for a third strike.
As shaky was Estrada was, Volquez was downright stoic as he circled the mound.
Jays ace David Price goes against Yordano Ventura in Game 2 Saturday.
Bautista was left stranded on first.
The six-foot-six left-hander has a career record of 104-56 with a 3.09 earned-run average in the regular season.
Edinson Volquez (who is starting Game 1 of the ALCS) hit Donaldson the next day, the Blue Jays hit a Royals hitter later in the same game, the Royals threw near Donaldson’s head, and the two teams brawled.
Salvador Perez homered for the Royals on a 12-degree Celsius night before a sellout of 39,753 in picturesque Kauffman Stadium, where fountains danced in the outfield and a sea of Kansas City blue filled the stands. Throw in two rabid fanbases, the long wait for the Cubbies, and the renovated Wrigley Field on the big stage of the postseason, and the stage is set for a fantastic series. There were no serious injuries among the building’s residents.
Toronto manager John Gibbons refused to blame the Mexican pitcher, instead lamenting an off night by his offense.
“I’m excited about watching them win, watching all the boys get the home runs and just pounding the Blue Jays into the ground”, Childress says.
That’s led to another round of questions about how Price has been used. On Friday night, one of his acquisitions sparked the Royals in a big way, leaping them one step closer towards that goal.
Price is scheduled to pitch Game 2 against Kansas City on Saturday.
“It’s just the chemistry of the lineup somehow that is kind of unexplainable to me how it works and why it works, but it does”, Yost said. “I didn’t think they would make it this far but they’ve done really good”. “I’m all about it”. Meanwhile, the Jays finished six games ahead of the second-place Yankees, and would undoubtedly have won the East no matter who’d been playing shortstop.
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Dating back to game five of Wednesday’s ALDS, the Royals’ pitching staff has combined to throw 16 straight scoreless innings.
