KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bo Bichette hit one of three Toronto home runs and five Blue Jays pitchers combined on a two-hitter in an 8-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
Ross Stripling (2-1) earned the win as he allowed just one hit over five innings, matching his season high. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter. Stripling pitched more than four innings for just the second time this season. Stripling, who made his sixth start, has been used out of the bullpen eight times.
Bichette’s home run was the first Toronto hit of the night after the game was delayed 2:05 because of weather.
Daniel Lynch (2-5) took the loss. He allowed six runs on six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Both starting pitchers were efficient at the start of the game. Michael A. Taylor’s one-out single in the bottom of the third inning was the first baserunner. Taylor had both of Kansas City’s hits.
George Springer walked leading off the fourth for Toronto’s first baserunner and he came around to score on Bichette’s line drive home run to right center.
The Blue Jays got another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Danny Jansen.
Vlad Guerrero Jr. lined the first pitch he saw in the sixth 423 feet over the fence in right center. After Alejandro Kirk singled, Santiago Espinal hit the Blue Jays’ third home run of the night, giving the Jays a 6-0 lead and ending Lynch’s night.
The Blue Jays added an unearned run in the seventh on an RBI single by Teoscar Hernandez. They got their eighth run on a wild pitch in the eighth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals OF Andrew Benintendi was held out of the lineup Monday after fouling a ball off his right calf in Sunday’s loss to Houston. Manager Mike Matheny said, “He’s good. It kind of stung. It began to cramp up. It’s happened to him a couple of other times, but it was more off the top of his foot or the chin. This time is was off the muscle, which was really grabbing and wasn’t allowing him to run full speed.”
UP NEXT
The Blue Jays and Royals will play the second game of a three-game series. The Blue Jays will start RHP Alek Manoah (6-1, 1.98 ERA) against RHP Brad Keller (1-6, 4.15 ERA) of the Royals.
David Smale, The Associated Press
