Michael Massey hit a two-run home run, left-hander Cole Ragans struck out nine and the visiting Kansas City Royals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Tuesday night.
The Royals ended a three-game losing streak and evened the three-game series with the Blue Jays.
Toronto right-hander Jose Berrios (4-2) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Ragans (2-2) yielded one run, four hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. He left the game with a left calf cramp.
Kansas City took the lead in the second on Massey’s first home run of the season. Salvador Perez led off the inning with a single, and Massey followed by blasting a slurve to right-center.
Davis Schneider smacked a single with one out in the bottom of the frame, but he was thrown out by right fielder Hunter Renfroe while attempting to stretch it into a double.
Berrios retired nine batters in a row before Freddy Fermin singled to open the fifth, but Berrios soon got Renfroe to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Toronto scored a run in the sixth. Isiah Kiner-Falefa opened the inning with a single and took third on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-out base hit. Bo Bichette, who entered Tuesday in a 2-for-22 funk, then hit an RBI single.
Berrios overcame a single and a walk in the top of the seventh.
Ragans walked Ernie Clement and Kiner-Falefa with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before being visited by the trainer. John Schreiber took over on the mound and ended the inning on a comebacker.
The Royals scored twice in the eighth.
Maikel Garcia singled with two outs against Erik Swanson, stole second and scored on a double into the left field corner by Bobby Witt Jr. Genesis Cabrera entered in relief and allowed an RBI double to Vinnie Pasquantino, who snapped an 0-for-26 drought with the run-scoring hit.
James McArthur pitched a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save of the season.
–Field Level Media
