The Kansas City Royals were knocking on the door of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central earlier this month, but after going 2-10 during a stretch in the middle of August, their postseason hopes faded.
Kansas City was revived with a five-game winning streak this week, but a loss on Friday to the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game set provided yet another setback for a team that hasn't been to the postseason since winning the World Series in 1985.
Kansas City enters the day 6 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second wild card spot, but the Royals have the Yankees, Indians, Orioles and Rays in front of them leading up to the Athletics.
Jeremy Guthrie, who snapped a personal three-start losing streak in Monday's makeup game versus Tampa Bay, takes the hill today for the Royals. The righty is 3-7 with a 3.46 ERA in 19 career starts against the Blue Jays.
Knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey counters for Toronto. He yielded two runs -- one earned -- in 6 1/3 innings and struck out six in a victory over the Yankees on Monday. That snapped a three-start winless stretch.
Dickey is 2-3 with a 4.79 ERA in 11 games (5 starts) versus Kansas City.
Adam Lind drove in two runs in Toronto's 3-2 win last night. Ryan Goins crossed the plate and brought in a run for the Blue Jays, who have won four of their last five games.
Mark Buehrle (11-7) won his sixth straight decision. The left-hander only surrendered four hits while striking out five batters in seven innings of work.
Kansas City went with Ervin Santana (8-8), who also tossed seven innings. He gave up three runs on four hits with six strikeouts. Santana has not won a game since August 4.
Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas each had two hits for the Royals.
Casey Janssen picked up his 25th save of the season. The closer allowed two base runners, but did not concede a run.
The Blue Jays won two of three when the teams last played, from April 12 to 14 in Toronto.
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