Toronto, ON – Carlos Villanueva tossed six shutout innings and the Toronto Blue Jays knocked off the Kansas City Royals, 4-1, in the third installment of a four-game series at Rogers Centre.
Villanueva (3-0) scattered four hits and struck out seven without walking a batter to secure the win. Jason Frasor and Darren Oliver navigated through the seventh and the eighth, respectively, and Casey Janssen locked up his 11th save of the year with a perfect ninth inning.
Yunel Escobar drove in two runs, while Rajai Davis and Kelly Johnson added RBI with sacrifice flies for the Blue Jays, who have won four of their last six games.
"I thought we did an excellent job of manufacturing some runs," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said.
Jeff Francoeur accounted for the only run with an RBI triple for the Royals, who have lost five of their last six.
Luis Mendoza (3-5) was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on nine hits and a walk with nine strikeouts.
Toronto struck first in the second inning when Davis shot one into the right- center field gap and legged out a triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Johnson.
The Jays took advantage of a mental error by the Royals in the third to extend the lead to 3-0. Edwin Encarnacion started the frame with a weak ground ball to second, but first baseman Eric Hosmer and Mendoza failed to communicate who would cover the bag, which allowed Encarnacion to reach with an infield hit.
"(Mendoza) has got to get out of the way," Yost said. "Hos (Hosmer) broke to the ball, then broke back and I could hear him screaming, 'I got it, I got it, I got it!' If I could hear him, Mendy's just got to put on the brakes as best he can and let Hos take the play."
Adam Lind followed with a sharp double down the left field line to put men on second and third before consecutive sacrifice flies by Escobar and Davis made it a three-run game.
Kansas City finally cracked the scoreboard in the seventh with a two-out rally. Mike Moustakas ripped a single up the middle and hustled all the way around when Francoeur laced a ball to left that got past Davis for a triple.
The Blue Jays got the run right back in the eighth. Colby Rasmus started the frame with a solid base hit up the middle and got to third on back-to-back flyouts by Jose Bautista and Encarnacion. After Lind walked, Escobar ripped one into center field to plate Rasmus for the final margin.
Game Notes
Prior to Wednesday's game, the Royals recalled pitchers Louis Coleman and Nate Adcock from Triple-A Omaha. Coleman allowed one hit and struck out the side in his one inning of work...Kansas City also optioned pitcher Vin Mazzaro to the farm club and designated outfielder Mitch Maier for assignment...Toronto improved to 6-1 against the Royals this season...Janssen is 11-for-11 in save opportunities since assuming the closer's role on May 9...Kansas City went 0- for-5 with runners in scoring position and left five on base.
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