Blue Jays take series on a Dickey gem

The Blue Jays have been winning since they made their big trades. Today they were looking to pick up a huge series win off of the AL leading Kansas City Royals. Going on only 3 days rest the Jays sent out R.A. Dickey who has been dealing over his last 4 starts. The Royals countered with 10-5 Edison Volquez.

Alcides Escobar led off the game with a single to right field. Ben Zobrist popped up to short for the first out. Lorenzo Cain struck out for the 2nd out. Eric Hosmer ground out to 2nd base to end the inning.

With one out on the bottom of the 1st Josh Donaldson got plunked in what appeared to be a deliberate HBP. A few words were exchanged and warnings issued but the dust settled. Jose Bautista hit a ground ball that was turned for an inning ending double play.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning Edwin Encarnacion legged out an infield single. Chris Colabello struck out for the first out. Russell Martin hit a single to center and Edwin moved to 3rd base on the play. With runners on first and third and one out Kevin Pillar popped out in foul territory. Ryan Goins ground out to end the treat.

With two out in the bottom of the 3rd inning Volquez threw some more chin music to Josh Donaldson. Both Donaldson and John Gibbons had some words for the umpire but nothing came of it. Donaldson eventually drew a walk from Volquez. Jose Bautista ground out to end the inning.

Ben Zobrist drew a lead off walk in the top of the 4th inning. Lorenzo Cain struck out for the first out of the inning. Eric Hosmer flew out to shallow left field for the second out of the inning. Kendrys Morales drew a two out walk to put two runners on base. Salvador Perez struck out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 4th inning Edwin Encarnacion led off with a single to center field. Chris Colabello smashed a two run home run to center field to break up the scoreless game. Russell Martin struck out for the 1st out of the inning. Kevin Pillar ground out for the 2nd out. Ryan Goins drew a two out walk to extend the inning. Ben Revere ground out to 1st base to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 5th inning Troy Tulowitzki led off with a walk. A hit and run was put on but Donaldson struck out but Tulowitzki made it to 2nd base for his 1st stolen base of the season. Jose Bautista popped out for the 2nd out of the inning. Edwin Encarnacion popped up to end the inning.

Lorenzo Cain hit a two out single in the top of the 6th inning. Eric Hosmer lined out to 1st base to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 7th inning Franklin Morales came in to pitch for the Royals. Ryan Goins led off with a single to center field. Ben Revere put down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner into scoring position. Ryan Madson entered the game to pitch against Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki was hit by a pitch and again John Gibbons came out to talk to the umpire complaining about the number of hit batters in todays game. Josh Donaldson came close to eating some more chin music and again Gibby came out to have some words with Jim Wolf. Gibby was kicked out of the game arguing the point with the ump. Donaldson ended up striking out for the 2nd out of the inning. Jose Bautista hit a ground rule double to score a run. Edwin Encarnacion struck out to end the inning.

Aaron Sanchez came into the game to pitch the 8th inning. Justin Smoak came into the game as a defensive replacement for Chris Colabello. Aaron Sanchez hit Alcides Escobar and was kicked out of the game. Roberto Osuna came in to try and pick up a four out save. Ben Zobrist smashed a home run to center field making it a one run game.

Kelvin Herrera came in to pitch the 8th inning for the Royals. Justin Smoak drew a lead off walk in his first at bat of the game. Russell Martin drew another walk to put two runners on base with no outs. Kevin Pillar popped out in foul ground but Smoak made a heads up play to advance to 3rd base. Ryan Goins drew the 3rd walk of the inning to load up the bases. Ben Revere hit a sacrifice fly to deep left to score a much needed run. Troy Tulowitzki blooped a single to right field to score yet another run. Luke Hochevar came into the game to pitch to Josh Donaldson got him to strike out.

Kendrys Morales picked up a one out single in the top of the 9th. Salvador Perez hit into a double play to end the game.

Game Notes:

• R.A Dickey continued his hot streak. This is the perfect time to head up for Dickey. Coming off of only 3 days rest he was asked to hopefully put in 6 innings. He did that and more going 7 strong today. Since June 1st including today he has an ERA of 2.70 and dropping.
• Aaron Sanchez kicked out of the game on potentially an intentionally hit batter. It sparked quite the peacocking from both sides, especially Edinson Volquez.
• Jim Wolf the home plate umpire was quite lax all day with the Royals pitchers despite issuing a warning in the 1st inning. Then dropped the hammer on Aaron Sanchez. The ball may have slipped out of Aaron’s hand but it came at a bad time.
• The hit batter in the 8th came across to score and create a much closer game than it needed to be. Sanchez (if intentional) waited until two outs before plunking someone. Osuna gave up the home run but came back in the 9th to finish off the save. That is a situation Sanchez (again if intentional) wants to send a message back to the Royals but cooler heads should prevail. Sitting down 3 straight and then chirp after sends a bigger message.
• Edwin Encarnacion is starting to heat up. He picked up his 4th multi hit game in his last 8 starts.

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