Blue Jays drop series finale against Royals

Marcus Stroman and the Blue Jays had a hard time gaining any momentum in this one, as the Royals walked all over the Blue Jays in a 7-1 win.  Not only did the Jays lose the series, but the loss dropped the Blue Jays a full game behind the Orioles for first place and they stand only a game and a half ahead of the Red Sox pending their Sunday night game.

Stroman got into trouble early, allowing three consecutive singles after a force out left Alex Gordon at first. Paulo Orlando, Drew Butera, and Raul Mondesi all got on base, allowing two runners to score. Then in the fifth Alcides Escobar gave the Royals a three-run lead on a contested home run to center field.

It looked as if the Jays had a chance to capitalize in the seventh. Trailing by three, Darwin Barney took a walk and Travis singled to bring him to third. Barney scored on the next at-bat on a wild pitch, but that would be the only scoring the Jays would see. Kendrys Morales would then put the game away with a Grand Slam off of Brett Cecil during the bottom of the inning.

Yardano Ventura was on point for the Royals, limiting the Blue Jays to just five hits and one run while walking and striking out four. Not his best start, but with the Blue Jays bats quiet he helped the Royals land a series win. Stroman had another rough start letting up three runs on seven hits over five innings.

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The loss capped a week of offensive struggles, as the Blue Jays didn’t record an RBI all game. The Blue Jays were outscored by the Royals 14-6 during the three game set. This highlighted just how thin a margin the Blue Jays won their series against the Astros this past week.

Devon Travis capped off a strong week at the plate with a lone single, bringing his weekly numbers to 10 hits, four runs, three home runs, five RBI’s and a .323 average. Seeing Travis return to his old ways will be a good step in righting the Blue Jays offensive woes.

The Blue Jays will open against division foe the Rays tomorrow at Rogers Centre. RA Dickey (8-12, 4.49) will look to pick up another quality start against Jake Odorizzi (6-5, 3.70). Dickey is coming off an excellent start giving the Blue Jays seven strong innings of five-hit, one-run ball. During the outing Dickey let up no walks and struck out five.