Whit Merrifield scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch against his former team, lifting the visiting Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
Daulton Varsho homered to lead off the sixth inning and Matt Chapman had an RBI single among his three hits and scored a run. Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier each had two of the 11 hits recorded by the Blue Jays, who snapped a three-game losing skid.
Yusei Kikuchi (1-0) overcame Franmil Reyes’ homer to lead off the second inning to keep Kansas City in check. Kikuchi allowed that one run on three hits in five innings before exiting after 69 pitches.
Yimi Garcia recorded the next four outs for Toronto before Tim Mayza struck out all four batters he faced. Erik Swanson bridged the gap to Jordan Romano, who retired the side in order in the ninth inning to secure his second save of the season.
Matt Duffy had three of the four hits for the Royals, who were unable to find their offense after posting a 9-5 win in the opener of the four-game series on Monday.
Merrifield, who was traded from Kansas City to Toronto on Aug. 2, 2022, doubled to lead off the fourth inning and advanced to third base on a sacrifice fly. He then came around to score after a wild pitch from Kris Bubic (0-1) squirted away from catcher Salvador Perez.
Bubic permitted two runs on seven hits in five innings to take the loss.
Merrifield’s run staked the Blue Jays to a 2-1 lead before Varsho doubled that advantage, launching the first pitch from Carlos Hernandez over the wall in left field. The homer was Varsho’s first of the season.
Chapman scored on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.
Reyes deposited a 3-2 slider from Kikuchi over the water fountains in left-center field to open the scoring in the second inning. The hit was the first of the season for Reyes, who entered the game 0-for-6 with five strikeouts.
Toronto forged a 1-1 tie in the third inning. Bo Bichette had a one-out single, advanced to third on a base hit from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and came around to score after Chapman’s RBI single down the third base line.
–Field Level Media
