Kansas City, MO – Brandon Morrow allowed just one run over 6 2/3 innings as the Blue Jays took a 4-1 decision over the Royals to complete a four-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium on Monday.
Morrow (1-1) scattered seven hits and struck out three in the victory, while Francisco Cordero pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to record his second save of the year.
Jose Bautista belted a two-run homer and Kelly Johnson added a solo shot to help the Blue Jays earn their 10th win of the season.
Bruce Chen (0-2) was charged with three runs on six hits and two walks over seven innings in the loss. Eric Hosmer finished with two hits, including a solo homer, but the Royals fell for the 11th straight time overall and a franchise-record 10th straight at home to open the season.
"We didn't execute," said Kansas City manager Ned Yost. "We had runners on third two times with less than two outs and couldn't put the ball in play. We had opportunities, we just couldn't get a hit."
Kansas City trailed 1-0 before the fans had time to settle into their seats as Johnson launched a one-out fastball over the wall in right field for his fourth homer of the season.
The Royals got the run back in the second when Hosmer belted a leadoff homer the opposite way into the left-field seats.
Toronto utilized the long ball again in the sixth to take the lead for good as Johnson worked a leadoff walk and Bautista followed with a fly ball that barely cleared the left-field wall, giving the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead.
Toronto added some insurance in the ninth as Brett Lawrie opened the frame with a triple and scored one pitch later on Rajai Davis' single to right.
Game Notes
Toronto will head to Baltimore to open a three-game series against the Orioles on Tuesday...The Royals will open a nine-game road trip on Tuesday, starting with three games in Cleveland...The Royals went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base...Toronto finished 2-for-5 with men in scoring position while stranding four.