Royals down Jays to split 4-game set
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Eric Hosmer went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-6, in the finale of a four-game series.
Yuniesky Betancourt hit a solo homer for the Royals, who won two games in the series. Alcides Escobar, Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon had an RBI apiece.
Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar (6-8) gave up two runs on four hits over five innings before leaving for precautionary reasons with a right medial ankle sprain.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}J.P. Arencibia hit a pair of homers and knocked in three runs for the Blue Jays, who went 4-4 on an eight-game homestand. Ben Francisco had two RBI.
Henderson Alvarez (5-7) allowed five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.
The Royals never looked back after scoring five runs in the third. Salvador Perez reached first on an infield single, Jarrod Dyson doubled and Gordon walked to load the bases with one out. Escobar and Hosmer followed with back- to-back RBI singles. Butler followed with a grounder down the third-base line that Brett Lawrie made a nice diving stop on. Lawrie's throw to second was way off the mark, and two runs scored on the play. Moustakas' sacrifice fly made it 5-0.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I thought in that five-run inning with Henderson, they did a good job of staying on his stuff," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. "I thought Henderson had quality pitches throughout, but there were some base hits that found the hole."
Toronto got two runs back in the bottom half. Kelly Johnson led off with a double and scored on Arencibia's homer to left.
Arencibia's solo homer in the seventh cut the gap to two, 5-3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kansas City seemed poised to pull away after scoring three runs in the eighth. Francisco Cordero quickly loaded the bases, but got an out when Dyson grounded into a fielder's choice. Gordon hit an RBI single to right prior to Escobar going down swinging. Hosmer followed with an infield single to deep second that scored two runs.
The Blue Jays kept it interesting with a three-run eighth of their own. Aaron Crow gave up an RBI single to Yunel Escobar, who moved to second on Rajai Davis' groundout. Jose Mijares came in from the bullpen and gave up an RBI triple to pinch-hitter Francisco, making it a two-run contest.
Betancourt's solo homer in the ninth gave Kansas City a 9-6 lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jonathan Broxton worked around a one-out single in the home ninth to pick up his 21st save of the season.
Game Notes
The Blue Jays won the season series by a 6-2 margin...Hochevar hurt his right ankle while covering first base in the fifth...Hochevar improved to 4-1 in seven lifetime starts against Toronto...The Blue Jays selected the contract of pitcher Sam Dyson from Double-A New Hampshire and optioned pitcher Scott Richmond to Triple-A Las Vegas. Dyson made his MLB debut in the seventh...The Royals released catcher Humberto Quintero on Thursday.