Clutch hits from Bo and Vlad lead Blue Jays to win against Kansas City

Things worth mentioning…

• Yusei Kikuchi had a solid outing for the Blue Jays. He went five innings and allowed one earned run on three hits and one walk while striking out eight. The lone run that he allowed came in the second inning when outfielder Darion Blanco hit a solo homer.
• The Royals went with an opener before bringing in a struggling rookie and the duo of Collin Snider and Alec Marsh completely shut them down until the sixth inning. Kevin Kiermaier led off the inning with a triple and Bo Bichette drove him home with a double.
• Trevor Richards allowed a run in the top of the seventh inning that put the Royals back up 2-1 but the Blue Jays rallied with a four-run bottom half to pull ahead. This inning featured some really unfortunate luck for the Royals as relief pitcher Austin Cox was injured when racing Alejandro Kirk to first base. George Springer drew a walk, Bichette tied the game with a single, and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. busted things open with a two-run double.

• It was a good thing that the Blue Jays added some insurance runs because the bullpen was shaky the rest of the way. Chad Green came in after Richards wasn’t able to finish the seventh inning but then allowed a couple of hits in the eighth before getting pulled. Tim Mayza was next and he allowed a single and a walk while recording just one out. Jordan Romano had to complete a four-out save and navigated around a hit and a couple of walks before getting the job done.
• This win guarantees that the Blue Jays will wake up in a playoff position on Saturday morning no matter what happens between the Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s on Friday night. At the time of writing, Oakland has a 6-3 lead on the Rangers in the eighth inning.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO