Blue Jays drop the 2nd game in K.C. in a 6-3 loss

39. Final. 6. 7. 3

Saturday afternoon was game 2 of the ALCS. The Blue Jays down a game in the series but were able to send out David Price to the mound. David has had mixed results this post season pitching as a starter and reliever. The Royals sent out their young flame thrower Yordano Ventura to the mound. Both pitchers have had a bit of a shaky post season making today’s match up even more interesting.

Alcides Escobar led off the the bottom of the 1st with a single to left field. It did not matter though as the next three batters were retired in order.

The Blue Jays answered back in the top of the 2nd inning with back to back singles by Edwin Encarnacion and Chris Colabello to start out the inning. Troy Toluwitzki struck out for the 1st out of the inning and then Alcides Escobar made a diving catch on a Russell Martin liner to start an inning ending double play.

Not to be out done, Kevin Pillar and Ryan Goins led off the top of the 3rd inning with back to back doubles opening up the scoring. Yardano Ventura was able to retire the next three batters he faced but the Blue Jays still mustered out a single run.

After both pitchers settled down for a few innings Josh Donaldson picked up a lead off single in the top of the 6th. Jose Bautista followed that up with a walk to put two runners on base and no outs for Edwin Encarnacion. Edwin was able to sneak a ball through the left side of the infield for a single that scored Josh Donaldson from 2nd base. Chris Colabello struck out for the 1st out of the inning. Troy Tulowitzki smashed a double to right field scoring another run. Russell Martin came to bat with two runners in scoring position and only one out and drew a huge walk to load up the bases. That marked the end of the day for Yordana Ventura. Luke Hochevar came in to pitch for the Royals and was able to retire Kevin Pillar and Ryan Goins without giving up any runs.

The Royals sent out Danny Duffy to pitch the 7th inning. Danny picked up a clean 1-2-3 inning.

The Royals finally got some hits on David Price in the bottom of the 7th inning. Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain hit back to back singles to lead off the inning. Eric Hosmer hit the 3rd straight single to score Zobrist from 2nd base. Kendrys Morales ground out to short but the runner on 3rd base scored to cut the lead to a single run. Mike Moustakas hit a single to right field allowing the tying run to score, he was also able to advance to 2nd base on the throw home. Salvador Perez struck out looking for a huge 2nd out of the inning. Alex Gordon hit a double into right center easily scoring Moustakas from 2nd base and giving the Royals the lead. That was the end of the line for David Price who was cruising until this inning. Aaron Sanchez came in to face Alex Rios. Rios hit a single up center field scoring another run for the Royals. Alcides Escobar ground out to bring the inning to a close.

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Kelvin Herrera came in to pitch the 8th inning for the Royals. Chris Colabello hit a one out double to left center to put a runner in scoring position. Chris was stranded on 2nd base as Kelvin Herrera was able to retire both Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin.

In the bottom of the 8th inning Lorenzo Cain drew a one out walk. The Blue Jays turned to Aaron Loup to face Eric Hosmer. Lorenzo Cain was caught attempting to steal 2nd base. Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales drew back to back walks. Mike Moustakas hit a single to right field allowing another run to score. Mark Lowe entered the game for the Blue Jays after Loup failed to record an out. Salvador Perez lined out to end the inning.

Wade Davis entered the game in the top of the 9th for the Royals to try and close out the game. Kevin Pillar led off with a single to right field. Cliff Pennington came in as a pinch hitter for Ryan Goins. Cliff drew a walk to put two runners on base with no outs. Ben Revere struck out for the 1st out of the inning. Josh Donaldson struck out swinging for the 2nd out. Jose Bautista hit a fly ball to right field to end the game.

Game Notes:

• David Price really got into a groove after the giving up a lead off hit to start the game. David followed that up by retiring the next 18 batters he faced. It wasn’t until the 7th inning that the Royals were able to string together hits and give them the lead.
• Home plate umpire Laz Diaz had a generous strike zone all game. He did keep it consistent for both starting pitchers allowing them both to expand the zone.
• In a rare defensive mistake Ryan Goins allowed a ball to drop in the 7th inning. The play was not scored an error but it was clearly a mistake. Goins came up short instead of making a play on the ball that appeared to be catchable.
• Aaron Loup was unable to retire any batters in a high leverage situation. He struggled to even throw strikes. That is not a good sign with Brett Cecil injured as the other lefty out of the pen.
• Edwin Encarnacion seemed to be favoring his injured hand in his at bats. Despite being in visible discomfort he still picked up a pair of hits.
• The Royals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series.

Grades:

Troy Tulowitzki. OFFENSE . C.  It was one of those games for the Jays. Ventura was pitching well but the offense was able to claw out 3 runs off of him. Until the 7th inning it looked like it would be enough for the win. Sadly, it was not enough. Troy Tulowitzki picked up a pair of hits and an RBI. After his first at bat he seemed to see the ball much better. Hopefully this is the start of a break out for Tulo. Kevin Pillar also picked up a pair of hits and a run. Chris Colabello and Edwin Encarnacion also picked up a multi-hit game. While they were able to pick up 10 total hits the runs were limited to only 3.. Game Ball

STARTING PITCHER. B. David Price had quite the gem brewing until the 7th inning. Maybe he was left out there too long. Maybe he had some bad luck. In Hindsight maybe Gibby gives Price the yank, maybe he doesn’t. Either way, David was churning along until the fateful 7th inning. After a lead off single in the 1st inning David was able to retire the next 18 batters he faced. In the first 6 innings he was getting ahead in his counts and had the hitters unable to make any solid contact. After the dust settled David’s final line was 6.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, and 8 K. . . David Price

C. After David Price coughed up 4 runs and left a runner on base in the 7th inning the bullpen was called on to help shut the door. Aaron Sanchez let an inherited runner score. Aaron Loup was also charged with a run. Mark Lowe came in for only 1 out but was able to do his job. On paper it is only a single run credited to the pen but today could have been better. Loup was ineffective and Sanchez seemed to struggle through his outs. The pen combined for 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, and 0 K.  . Game Ball. Mark Lowe. BULLPEN

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