Blue Jays keep rolling with convincing win over Royals

The Toronto Blue Jays made it four wins in a row on Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals, pulling away early and not looking back for an 8-3 win powered by 13 hits.

Starter R.A. Dickey pitched very well and appears to be rounding into another mid-summer groove. The knuckler threw seven innings, allowing two runs (both unearned). He gave up just four hits, striking out eight and lowering his ERA to 3.94.

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Josh Donaldson homered twice, opening up the offence for the Blue Jays with a drive to centre-field in the bottom of the first inning and following it up with his 22nd home run of the season, a mammoth blast, in the third. Ezequiel Carrera launched a solo shot in the third and Troy Tulowitzki rounded it out with a three-run homer of his own, chasing Royals starter Chris Young after just two and two-thirds innings.

Donaldson also scored his 77th run of the year on a Kevin Pillar sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, the most runs scored by a Blue Jays player prior to the All-Star break in team history.

The top of the lineup was especially potent in this game, going 9-for-17. Michael Saunders got the start batting cleanup, going 2-for-4 with a run scored before getting an early rest as Junior Lake took over as a pinch-runner.

Joe Biagini took care of the back end behind Dickey, throwing two innings in relief while allowing one earned run and striking out a pair.

Earlier in the evening it was announced that Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, and Marco Estrada had been elected to the upcoming MLB All-Star Game. Michael Saunders remains a voting candidate for the final spot on the American League roster.

Toronto will be looking for the sweep on Tuesday night in finale where Marcus Stroman (6-4, 5.08 ERA) will look to right the ship before the break. Ian Kennedy (6-7, 4.04 ERA) counters for the Royals.